A handful of individual states are lining up to pass legislation that protects chemical manufacturers from state-level lawsuits that allege the maker failed to warn users about the cancer risks associated with such products.
The legislation specifically protects Bayer, the owner of Roundup, and the target of thousands of lawsuits since the company acquired Monsanto in June 2018 for $63 billion. Shortly after the acquisition, Bayer was hit with as many as 200,000 lawsuits by those blaming the pesticide for its non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
On April 1, Kentucky passed SB 199 into law, becoming the third state to pass such a measure when a veto-override by its republican-led legislature canceled a veto by Gov. Andy Beshear that would have struck down the bill.
The Kentucky law follows similar legislation in North Dakota and Georgia. North Dakota HB 1318 went into effect last July, while Georgia SB 144 became effective in January. A similar proposal in Kansas has stalled.
To date, Bayer has settled thousands of lawsuits for a total of about $11 billion. According to published reports, numerous suits have been filed by golf course greenkeepers, as well as school grounds workers and even a PGA professional.
Glyphosate has been “linked” to cancer by the World Health Organization, a claim the EPA refutes. Bayer representatives have repeatedly said the weedkiller is safe in accordance with label directions. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency conducted a regulatory review of Roundup in 2020 and concluded the herbicide is not a carcinogen.
Bayer also is the defendant in a case before the U.S. Supreme Court (Monsanto Co. v. Durnell) on whether the company had a duty to warn customers that glyphosate could cause cancer. SCOTUS began hearing the case on April 20.
