The Wall Street Journal reported this afternoon that Bayer AG “has agreed on draft settlement terms” to settle thousands of individual plaintiffs’ claims that Roundup weedkiller caused their cancers.
March 13, 2020 — Reporters Laura Kisisto and Jacob Bunge report that the settlement is likely to total around $10 billion. No details are available on how plaintiffs and their tort lawyers would divide any settlement money.
Also unspecified is whether the agreement could effectively shut down future cancer-related lawsuits. Bayer acquired Roundup marketing rights upon buying Monsanto in June 2018 for about $62 billion. After three cancer-lawsuit plaintiffs won their cases, Bayer’s stock price declined from around $34 in June 2018 to near $18 today, and Bayer’s board chairman recently resigned.
Here’s the link to the WSJ article, if you have an online subscription.