Roundup Cancer Lawsuit Update

April 1, 2025 – MDL Stalls, State Court Filings Continue

For the second consecutive month, the federal Roundup MDL saw little movement—just one new case was filed in March, holding the total at 4,415 pending cases. This slow pace is a sharp contrast to what we’re seeing in state court, where litigation is still seeing new lawsuits and, not for nothing, juries have issued over $4 billion in recent verdicts.

March 24, 2025 – $2.1 Billion Roundup Verdict in Georgia

A Georgia jury has rocked Bayer once again on Friday, ordering the company to pay $2.1 billion to a plaintiff who developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after using Roundup. The verdict includes $65 million in compensatory damages and a stunning $2 billion in punitive damages, signaling another major rebuke of Bayer’s refusal to take responsibility for the dangers of glyphosate.

Bayer has already vowed to appeal, arguing—as it always does—that the verdict contradicts scientific evidence and regulatory findings. But while the company fights in court, it is taking massive financial hits in the real world. After the verdict, Bayer’s stock plummeted nearly 9% in early Frankfurt trading, adding to its staggering 70% decline since acquiring Monsanto in 2018. The company’s legal strategy—dragging plaintiffs through trial after trial—is not just hurting Bayer in the courtroom.

The financial pressure on Bayer is intensifying. The company has already burned through $10 billion settling past claims, yet over 60,000 Roundup lawsuits remain unresolved, with new cases being filed regularly. Meanwhile, Bayer has set aside only $5.9 billion for future settlements—an amount that now looks completely inadequate. With its stock sinking and shareholders losing patience, Bayer is now scrambling to raise billions of euros through a capital increase, a move that underscores just how much these lawsuits are threatening its financial stability.

The Georgia verdict may be the blow that finally forces Bayer to rethink its litigation strategy. Despite CEO Bill Anderson’s public commitment to “containing” the Roundup crisis by 2026, the reality is that every massive jury verdict Bayer takes is the opposite of containment. At some point, Bayer will have to decide whether fighting these cases is worth the mounting financial and reputational damage.

Bayer may continue to posture and appeal, but the message from juries and the market is clear: the longer they wait, the worse it gets.

March 19, 2025: Motion to Consolidate New Jersey Roundup Cases

Plaintiffs in 36 lawsuits against Monsanto and Bayer over alleged Roundup-related injuries have asked the New Jersey Supreme Court to consolidate their cases in Atlantic County Superior Court. They argue that grouping the cases together would streamline proceedings, improve efficiency, and avoid conflicting rulings, given that similar legal issues have already been decided in multiple cases across the state.

Currently, 41 Roundup-related cases are pending in New Jersey courts, with plaintiffs claiming exposure to the weed killer caused severe health conditions, including non-Hodgkin lymphoma. If consolidation is approved, plaintiffs expect the total number of cases to surpass 100. A previous request to centralize Roundup cases in New Jersey was denied last June due to an insufficient number of filings. Monsanto has opposed the new application, insisting that the number of cases remains too low to justify multicounty litigation..

December 7, 2024: Chicago Roundup Trial Ends with Mistrial

A mistrial was declared during the fourth week of the trial in the Chicago Roundup trial after the defense improperly referenced a past criminal charge against the plaintiff during cross-examination. The judge deemed the questioning “serious misconduct,” noting it was irrelevant to the case and prejudicial to the jury, and cautioned the defense against further violations.

The plaintiffs argued that the reference to the charge had no relevance and was a clear attempt to prejudice the jury, calling it part of a broader pattern of the defense disregarding the court’s rulings. Any first-year lawyer would recognize that introducing such evidence is improper and inadmissible.  It was an alcohol-related charge that has nothing to do with the price of tea in China.

Monsanto is getting more desperate by the day. The case will ultimately be retried.

December 2, 2024: 18 More Cases Added to MDL

In November, 18 new cases joined the Roundup MDL, raising the total number of pending cases to 4,373.

November 22, 2024: Long-Term or Commercial Use Cases Are the Strongest

One thing is becoming increasingly clear: the strongest Roundup cases involve long-term, high-frequency use.  You are seeing many Roundup lawyers modifying case criteria accordingly.

Plaintiffs who can demonstrate extensive exposure to the product over decades, especially in occupational or agricultural settings, have a much better chance of success.  These cases are easier to link causally to non-Hodgkin lymphoma compared to residential use cases, where exposure levels are typically much lower. The Womack case in Philadelphia is a perfect example of how lower residential use claims often struggle to gain traction with juries.

November 20, 2024: RFK Jr.’s Nomination

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. played a significant role in the landmark 2018 lawsuit against Monsanto, the manufacturer of Roundup. As part of the legal team, Kennedy represented Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper who alleged that prolonged exposure to Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The jury awarded Johnson $289 million, marking a pivotal moment in the ongoing litigation against Monsanto.

RFK Jr.’s nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) could have profound implications for future regulatory oversight of chemicals like Roundup and that may bleed into this litigation in a way that benefits plaintiffs.  Certainly, people have misgivings about Kennedy. But on Roundup, he is supporting a just cause.

November 16, 2024: Tough Loss in Womack in Philadelphia

October 15, 2024: How Settlement Amounts and Jury Awards Are So Different

The settlement amounts for plaintiffs with cases heading to trial in the Roundup litigation are typically much higher than what a victim could expect from a global settlement agreement.

When an individual case is selected for trial, the pressure on Bayer increases significantly. Plaintiffs with trial dates have a powerful bargaining position, often leading to high-value settlements or, as we have seen, verdicts. On the other hand, global settlements, which cover thousands of cases at once, tend to offer more modest payouts per plaintiff. These settlements aim to bring widespread closure to litigation, resulting in standardized compensation that may not reflect the full value of each individual’s claim.

In this sense, getting a trial date can feel a bit like hitting the lottery for an individual plaintiff. The stakes are higher, the potential payouts are larger, and the opportunity to make Bayer rethink its legal strategy rests on the outcome of a single case. But it is a numbers game. Trial dates are so rare, given the sheer number of pending cases. For almost every plaintiff that ultimately ends up in the global settlement pool, the process may feel less rewarding, like splitting the winnings among thousands.

Our lawyers just saw this firsthand in the 3M earplug litigation. This case had an even more stark difference between individual trial awards and global settlement payouts that we would expect in Roundup.

Across the first 16 bellwether trials, juries awarded nearly $300 million in total damages, with some individual plaintiffs receiving multi-million-dollar awards—including punitive damages designed to punish 3M for negligence. For those plaintiffs, going to trial resulted in life-changing compensation, far beyond what was later offered through the global settlement.

3M recently agreed to a $6 billion global settlement to resolve the remaining 240,000 claims. Most settlements range between $10,000 and $24,000.  You can drive a truck through that difference, right?

I think a lot of victims would be surprised to know that most plaintiffs’ lawyers would jump at a global offer that was $100,o00 per case in 2024.ar.

September 12, 2024: Second Defense Verdict in Philadelphia

The plaintiff lost the Young trial in Philadelphia.  The scorecard in Philadelphia now stands at three wins for plaintiffs and two for Monsanto.  Another trial is on deck.

July 23, 2024: Latest in the MDL

The court’s July 8, 2024, order prompted the parties to submit responses, focusing on the proposal to create Wave 9 for the ongoing MDL, which would be the final wave.

This MDL, initiated on October 6, 2016, has overseen over 5,200 case resolutions or dismissals. The current number of active cases is below 500, significantly reduced from over 5,500 at its peak.

The proposal suggests adding Wave 9, including cases moved from the inactive docket, to manage the remaining cases efficiently. Any cases added after October 4, 2024, will be placed into sub-wave 9(e), which will be the final phase of the MDL.

These are the key points from the status report:

• Wave Creation and Management: The court will create Wave 9, the last wave in the MDL, to handle the remaining cases. Wave 8 currently holds approximately 377 cases, split into sub-waves. Any new cases after October 4, 2024, will join Wave 9(e).
• Identifying Overburdened Plaintiffs’ Counsel: This is the issue the court raised about whether plaintiffs’ lawyers have too many cases.  The lawyers’ response was the obvious one: it is challenging to assess whether plaintiffs’ firms have taken on more cases than they can handle effectively. Evaluations would require detailed knowledge of each firm’s capacity and other commitments, making a general inquiry impractical.
• Settlement Program Termination: Plaintiffs’ Roundup counsel proposes terminating the current settlement program, suggesting a switch to a mediation program for better negotiation flexibility. Monsanto supports continuing the current program.
• Involvement in Daubert Motions: Plaintiffs’ leadership expresses willingness to participate more in MDL-wide Daubert motions but highlights the need for more leadership firms if this role expands. The concern is that it is a lot of work where there is no MDL fee right now.
• Calling General Causation Experts: There’s a dispute over whether the plaintiff in one case (Beckfield) can call general causation experts. Monsanto argues for limited use based on specific Wave 4 disclosures, while plaintiffs insist on broader rights to call designated experts.
• Hochstein Case Resolution: The Hochstein case has been resolved and will be dismissed once the settlement is finalized.

July 11, 2024: Exclusion of EPA Regulations Expert Overturned 

Great appellate win this week.  An Oregon appellate court has overturned a lower court’s decision to exclude crucial expert testimony in a lawsuit against Monsanto Company.

The plaintiff initially lost the case when the jury ruled in favor of the company. However, the appeals court found that the exclusion of expert testimony from Dr. Charles Benbrook, an authority on Environmental Protection Agency regulations, was erroneous and not harmless, necessitating a reversal and remand of the case.

The plaintiff argued that the trial court’s decision to exclude Dr. Benbrook’s testimony, which was intended to shed light on the EPA’s pesticide regulatory framework and the assessment process for cancer risks, unfairly prejudiced his case. Dr. Benbrook’s insights were expected to counter Monsanto’s defense that the EPA’s approval of Roundup’s labeling indicated the product’s safety. The appellate court agreed with the plaintiff, highlighting that Dr. Benbrook’s extensive expertise in agricultural economics and pesticide regulation would have been beneficial for the jury’s understanding of the complexities involved in the case.

Furthermore, the appellate court addressed Monsanto’s cross-assignment of error, where the company contended that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempted the plaintiff’s state law claims. Monsanto argued once again that because the EPA had repeatedly approved Roundup’s labeling without a cancer warning, any state law requirement to include such a warning would conflict with federal regulations. The appellate court rejected this argument, just like every other court has.

June 5, 2024: McKivision’s Verdict Amount Lowered 

A judge in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas has lowered the January verdict in McKivision’s case from $2.25 billion to $400 million.

The verdict in the billions had a nice ring to it.  But it does not change much.  It is a life-changing amount of money, and the verdict still has the same impact on the litigation.

May 9, 2024: Lobbying Leads to Possible Protections for Bayer

Lobbying dollars can buy you more than we thought.

Legislation that would protect Bayer from further lawsuits alleging that its weedkiller, Roundup, causes cancer is advancing through the Missouri General Assembly. Sponsored by Representative Dane Diehl, R-Butler, House Bill 2763 passed the Missouri House on April 24 with a vote of 91-57 and underwent a public hearing in the Senate Agriculture, Food Production, and Outdoor Resources Committee on April 30.

A planned Senate committee vote on HB 2763 was postponed and has not been rescheduled.  But, depressingly, it has a chance of passing.  This is the Missouri legislature selling out its own citizens to carry water for a multinational..

March 4, 2024: Delaware Mistrial is Small Win for Bayer

After a series of major losses in recent Roundup cancer trials, Bayer scored a pair of victories last week. A Roundup wrongful death trial in Delaware resulted in a hung jury after three days of deliberation. We usually would not call a mistrial a win for the defendant.  But after the punches Bayer has taken in the last few months, we can call it a win. These recent successes for Bayer follow two monumental losses in St. Louis and Philadelphia, totaling nearly $4 billion in damages.

On the same day, another Roundup trial in Arkansas concluded in a defense verdict for Bayer.

You can expect more verdicts in March.

February 28, 2024: Monsanto Petitions Against Georgia Doctor’s Claim

Monsanto has petitioned the full Eleventh Circuit for a second time to reconsider a panel ruling allowing a Georgia doctor’s claims against the company for failing to warn about cancer risks associated with the Roundup weedkiller. The company argues that federal pesticide labeling requirements preempt such state law claims.

The purpose of this doomed effort is to create a split with the Ninth Circuit’s ruling on similar claims, potentially increasing the likelihood of Supreme Court review.  Bayer’s options seem to be to settle these Roundup lawsuits or bet the company on this long shot.

February 22, 2024: Recent Study Highlights Growing Exposure Risk

A recent study reveals that pregnant women in a prominent agricultural state in the US are exhibiting rising levels of a harmful herbicide in their urine, correlating with the increased agricultural application of these chemicals.

Conducted by the Indiana University School of Medicine, the research indicated that 70% of the pregnant women surveyed in Indiana from 2020 to 2022 had detectable levels of the herbicide dicamba in their urine, a significant rise from 28% in the years 2010 to 2012. This increase was observed alongside a more than fourfold rise in the concentration of this weed-killing chemical in their bodies, highlighting growing exposure risks.

February 5, 2024: Updated Roundup Verdicts

This is the updated Roundup verdict scorecard:

February 2, 2024: Significant Increase in Roundup MDL

26 new cases were added to the Roundup MDL last month, the largest monthly volume of new cases we have seen in the last six months.

January 30, 2024: Thoughts on Bloomberg’s Bayer Article

Bloomberg has an article today about the significant pressure Bayer is under to develop a new strategy for handling its Roundup weedkiller litigation.

The article pushes the narrative that having an MDL as a “center of gravity” made it easier for Bayer to settle than now. But not really. Bayer targeted individual plaintiffs’ lawyers last time to settle cases and could do the same thing again just as easily.

The answer for Bayer is simple but painful. They have $6 billion left to set aside for Roundup settlement payouts. That is not enough. It could have been enough last year, but now it is nowhere close. Bayer needs to sell off assets to raise the money for settlement, pay these victims, and return to trying to become a great company again. The only other path – waiting in vain for a Supreme Court decision that will never come- will result in bankruptcy for Bayer.

It is hard for Bayer – hard for any of us – to cut our losses when we have made a mistake. Bayer had an excellent opportunity to settle these cases for a lot less last year. That window is closed. Management is risking its entire company by now doing what they know in their hearts needs to be done.

January 26, 2024: McKivison Verdict is Back

The verdict is back in McKivision. The jury awarded $2.25 billion.

Bayer has billions in reserves to settle these lawsuits. It needs to find more billions to resolve these lawsuits before the company goes into bankruptcy.

January 9, 2024: McKivison v. Monsanto Begins

A new Roundup NHL trial has begun in Philadelphia in McKivision v. Monsanto.

[Note: We need to update this now after the new $2.25 billion verdict.]

December 26, 2023: Loss in California Lawsuit

The plaintiffs’ five-win streak came to a halt on Friday with a loss in California.

The plaintiffs will not win every Roundup lawsuit, but I like our chances as trials start again in January.

December 18, 2023: Roundup MDL Still Pending

The Roundup class action MDL is still pending in the federal court system. It has just over 4,000 pending cases, most of which have been parked in the MDL for several years.

December 13, 2023: Monsanto Attempts to Recuse Judge 

Monsanto is in another NHL Roundup trial in California in Jones v. Monsanto. Before the trial began, Monsanto did its usual “the world is unfairly conspiring against us” drama, this time trying to get the trial judge recused.

Why? Monsanto argued for Judge Patrick Palacios’ disqualification in the Roundup trial, claiming he wasn’t the designated “all-purpose” judge. This contention stems from the fact that he allegedly advised the lawyers that the practice of San Benito County Superior Court for long trials is to assign a temporary or visiting judge for trial. Really, that was the argument. The appellate court had to set Monsanto straight to get the trial going.

December 5, 2023: Philadelphia Jury Finds Monsanto Responsible

Once again, a jury finds Monsanto responsible. A jury in Philadelphia yesterday ordered Monsanto to Bayer to pay a woman with NHL over $3.4 million, finding that Roundup exposure led to her developing cancer.   This judgment by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas marks the fifth successive defeat for Monsanto.

Once again, the jury found that Monsanto was not only negligent but that its conduct was reprehensible. The jury only awarded $462,500 in compensatory damages. But it awarded $3 million for punitive damages. Monsanto’s defense of “she was a smoker, that must have given her NHL” failed miserably.

November 20, 2023: Stunning Roundup Verdict Issued in Missouri 

A new stunning $1.561 billion roundup verdict was issued Friday in Missouri. Jurors in state court in Jefferson City awarded James Draeger, Valorie Gunther, and Dan Anderson a total of $61.1 million in actual damages and $500 million each in punitive damages over their claims that years of using Roundup on their lawns and gardens caused their non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas.

I know we said the last three verdicts were game-changers. This is an exponential game changer. For some context, Bayer stock is down 19.31% as I write this post.

November 9, 2023: Monsanto Argues for Wrongful Swaying of Jury 

Monsanto is, of course, challenging the $175 million verdict handed down in Philadelphia, arguing that that the court wrongfully swayed the jury’s deadlock resolution in a case alleging the company failed to alert consumers about the carcinogenic hazards of Roundup. Monsanto faults the court for purportedly pressuring the jury unanimously without notifying the parties. It is a crazy stretch to call this coercion. Judges are afforded wide latitude to encourage further jury deliberations in deadlock situations.

November 1, 2023: Monsanto Faces Pressure to Settle

Law.com has an article about how attorneys representing Roundup NHL cancer plaintiffs are pressuring Monsanto to settle the remaining 40,000 or so weedkiller suits that are pending nationwide. They argue, as we have, that the scientific consensus is damning for the weed killer and that the responsible action would be to cease sales and address the settlements.

Bayer may be more receptive to this “settlement now” argument now that the European Union opted not to renew its sanction of glyphosate, the primary component of Roundup, while regulatory bodies in the U.S. are reassessing their positions regarding its potential to cause cancer. Of course, getting hit over the head with $500 million in verdicts in a week might also impact the company’s settlement posture.

October 31, 2023: Expected Settlement Amounts Soar After San Diego Verdict

After a long deliberation, the jury in the Dennis case in San Diego awarded $332 million, including $325 million in punitive damages and $7 million in compensatory damages. Good golly! We have a whole new ballgame in this litigation, and the expected settlement amounts are now soaring with these last three verdicts.

October 27, 2023: Game-Changing Verdict in Philadelphia

The jury is back in the Caranci case in Philadelphia. Verdict: $175 million. Reportedly, that is $25 million in compensation and $150 million in punitive damages. We will let you know when we know more.

We have been saying this trial will be a game-changer. It is a game-changer! This was not some unique case with special facts. This lawsuit involved an 82-year-old man diagnosed with NHL nearly 20 years prior.

October 24, 2023: San Diego Trial Focuses on EPA’s 2022 Finding Withdrawal 

In the Dennis trial in San Diego, plaintiffs’ lawyers are pushing the EPA’s decision in 2022 to withdraw its finding that glyphosate is not likely to cause cancer in humans.

The history of that is that in June 2022, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the EPA’s stance that glyphosate, found in Roundup herbicide, isn’t likely carcinogenic to humans. The court found that the EPA didn’t sufficiently review glyphosate’s potential cancer risks.

This pushed the FDA to retract its initial position on glyphosate’s non-carcinogenic nature and promised a more thorough evaluation. This is a big deal because it limits Monsanto’s ability to hide behind the FDA’s skirt. Monsanto will try anyway because it is an almost Pavlovian reflex, it has to sluff off the objective science and claims the EPA supports the product (and I’m sure jury focus groups keep telling them that is key). But it will be harder to do that with the plaintiffs’ lawyers putting that argument front and center in San Diego.

October 22, 2023: St. Louis Man Awarded $1.25 Million

On Friday, a St. Louis jury awarded a 67-year-old plaintiff $1.25 million, finding that Monsanto did not sufficiently warn about the potential risks of its product, Roundup, which he claimed led to his non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

While previous Roundup trials had perhaps myopically focused on the carcinogenic properties of glyphosate, this case and two others underway in San Diego and Philadelphia have featured a new strategy by the plaintiff’s lawyers. They introduced allegations suggesting that multiple ingredients in Roundup, not just glyphosate, were linked to cancer. This verdict breaks Monsanto’s previous series of nine consecutive defense victories in Roundup-related trials.

This is a huge win for Roundup plaintiffs and the first step in putting Bayer back on its heels and forcing it to offer reasonable Roundup cancer compensation amounts to resolve this litigation. Even after losing nine cases in a row, there was still positive buzz around these cases. You are now seeing more Roundup legal advertising and such. This verdict validates that optimism.

October 11, 2023: New Trial Underway in Philadelphia 

Monsanto (Bayer) has scored defense verdicts in the last handful of Roundup cancer cases that have gone to trial in state courts nationwide, including a victory in St. Louis just two weeks ago. This week, however, a new Roundup trial is underway in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and the plaintiffs are looking for a better outcome. This will be the first Roundup case to go to trial in Philadelphia, which is one of the most plaintiff-friendly jurisdictions in the entire country. Jury selection in the case (Caranci v. Monsanto et al.) began last week.

September 23, 2023: The Statute of Limitations in McCostlin Trial

One big issue in McCostlin is one we have not talked about much: the statute of limitations. Many of these claims are past the technical statute of limitations.

But under the discovery rule in most states, the clock for filing a lawsuit starts ticking not when an injury or harm occurs but when the injured party discovers or reasonably should have discovered that they suffered harm or injury due to someone else’s actions or negligence. Essentially, it allows plaintiffs to file a lawsuit within a certain period after becoming aware of their injury rather than when it happened.

In McCostlin, the plaintiff maintains that in 2019, they only began to understand the real cause of the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma when they contacted their attorneys. The defendant contends that the plaintiff saw a lawyer’s Roundup TV advertisement during chemotherapy treatments in 2017 that should have set off the suspicion that Roundup caused his NHL.

This will be a question the jury will have to decide before it gets to the case’s merits. Juries are generally willing to give victims the benefit of the doubt in disputes like this.

September 22, 2023: Potential Critical Testimony in McCostilin Trial

In the McCostilin Roundup cancer trial in Missouri, Monsanto’s corporate representative conceded that independent researchers predominantly carried out studies indicating chromosome damage due to the weedkiller, yet the company primarily funded research asserting the absence of chromosomal harm. You never know, but this could be critical testimony for the jurors.

September 19, 2023: Toxicologist Expert Witness Speaks on Glyphosate 

Watch the latest St. Louis Roundup trial on Courtroom View Network. Yesterday, a toxicologist, Richard DeGrandchamp, from the University of Colorado, testified that multiple studies since 2015 have further affirmed the connection between Roundup and cancer, especially after glyphosate, a key ingredient, was labeled “a probable human carcinogen” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). Since that time, new research has found more harmful effects. This includes changes in how DNA is fixed, how cells grow or die, how cells get their food, long-lasting swelling, and changes that affect our genes but are not in the genes themselves.

DeGrandchamp said on cross-examination that nearly all his income over the past three decades has been from serving as an expert witness for plaintiffs in litigation, earning him around $2 million in recent years. So that is not a good look. But this is what so many experts do in 2023. Hopefully, the jury focuses on the science he is presenting, which is extremely strong.

August 17, 2023: Monsanto Seeks to Move Cases to St. Louis County

This week in Missouri, plaintiffs faced a setback in their Roundup lawsuits against Monsanto.

Monsanto sought to move five of the six cases to St. Louis County. None of these cases originated in Missouri. Why were they filed in St. Louis? The city is thought to be a good jurisdiction for plaintiffs.

The trial court declined Monsanto’s venue change request. The Missouri Supreme Court, interpreting the state’s venue statute, decided that five out of six cases should be moved. The court found that under Missouri law, in cases where the initial injury happened outside Missouri, the appropriate venue is where the defendant corporation’s registered agent currently resides when the lawsuit is filed. Monsanto’s registered agent was in St. Louis County at the time of filing. So the Supreme Court directed the venue to be St. Louis County.

This is not a death-knell defeat. But everyone knows plaintiffs would rather be in St. Louis City than St. Louis County.

July 18, 2023: Monsanto Seeks to Exclude Key Expert Witnesses 

Monsanto recently filed a motion to exclude opinions from one of the Roundup plaintiffs’ key expert witnesses, Dr. Ron Schiff. Dr. Schiff has been a prominent expert in Roundup litigation, offering his expert medical opinion on the causal link between exposure to glyphosate and lymphoma. However, Monsanto claims that Dr. Schiff’s opinions are based on flawed methodology and should be excluded as unreliable. Monsanto has previously sought to exclude expert testimony in the Roundup litigation with little success.

June 28, 2023: Seven Trial Dates Set in Philadelphia 

If you are looking for the tide to turn in the latest string of Roundup NHL trial losses, look to Philadelphia. The initial trials in Philadelphia’s mass tort lawsuit involving Roundup will start this fall. According to a case management order filed earlier this week, seven trial dates are ready.

This is a good system to avoid delay. Each trial date is ensured to have a backup, guaranteeing a trial unless an exceptional circumstance arises. The first case to be tried involves a plaintiff named Ernest Caranci, with jury selection set to commence on October 5th. If this case does not go to trial, another case on behalf of a plaintiff named Debra Purnell will take its place. The second backup was added after the defense moved the Caranci case to federal court.

There are nearly 200 cases in Philadelphia’s Roundup mass tort, with many more on deck to be filed.

February 27, 2023: Expert Witness Reinstated Following Monsanto’s Attempts to Discredit

A professor at the State University of New York at Albany and a frequent expert witness for plaintiffs in several Roundup cases has been cleared and reinstated after Monsanto attempted to discredit him.

Professor David Carpenter is an expert in environmental toxins. After Professor Carpenter served as an expert witness for several Roundup plaintiffs, lawyers for Monsanto sent records requests to the University at Albany, which was aimed at discrediting his work. The University launched an investigation and put Carpenter on leave. Last week, however, the University announced that Carpenter had been cleared and can resume teaching. Monsanto had sought to use the investigation into Carpenter to its advantage in ongoing Roundup cases.

December 12, 2022: Langford v. Monsanto Settles Last Minute 

The Roundup trial that was supposed to get underway in San Francisco last month never happened because it was settled at the last minute.

The case, Langford v. Monsanto Co. et al. (CGC-21-592238), was in the Superior Court of California for San Francisco County, with a trial set for November 11, 2022. However, a few days before trial, the case was removed from the Court’s calendar, with a notation in the docket entry indicating “Case settled October 7, 2022.”

The settlement terms are confidential, so we don’t know what the settlement amount was. This is an indication that Bayer is continuing to settle strong cases and only going to trial in weaker cases that it has a good chance of winning.

November 11, 2022: Jury Selection Begins for Langford v. Monsanto 

Jury selection begins today in Langford v. Monsanto, the latest Roundup cancer case to go to trial. This trial will be in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco. The plaintiff, Michael Langford, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2007 and was granted an expedited trial because of his rapidly failing health. This will be the first Roundup trial since the 3-plaintiff trial in St. Louis that Bayer won.

November 1, 2022: New Study Links Prenatal Roundup Exposure to Fetal Liver Damage

The scientific evidence regarding the dangers of Roundup just continues to accumulate. It seems like every month, a new study comes out linking glyphosate exposure to a new health hazard. The latest study came from a research team in Brazil which found that prenatal exposure to Roundup can cause fetal liver damage and inflammation. The study was published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology.

October 4, 2022: New Study Links Glyphosate to Increased Rates of Thyroid Cancer

A new study in a major medical journal found that exposure to glyphosate (the ingredient in Roundup) caused increased rates of thyroid cancer. The study was done by a research team from UCLA and looked at 29 different types of pesticides. It found that residential glyphosate exposure over 20 years increased the rate of thyroid cancer by 36%. Our lawyers are unaware of any thyroid cancer Roundup lawsuits and we not accepting these cases yet. But it is certainly something to keep an eye on to see if other studies replicate this finding.

September 2, 2022: Defense Verdict In Favor of Monsanto

It is not fun reporting on the losses. We explain below why the recent Roundup losses are misleading. But they are still losses and we cannot run from that.

After a trial that lasted nearly a month and featured the claims of three plaintiffs (all in their 60s), a jury in St. Louis returned a defense verdict in favor of Bayer/Monsanto on all claims.

Back in 2018, the first handful of Roundup bellwether trials all resulted in massive verdicts for the plaintiffs, essentially forcing Bayer to waive the white flag and pursue a settlement strategy. Since then, however, Bayer has scored defense victories in a series of 5 state court jury trials in a row.

Again, and our lawyers think this cannot be underscored enough, this trend is somewhat misleading because, unlike the early bellwether trials, Bayer has been able to hand-pick many of the recent cases that have gone to trial. At least four of the last five defense verdicts have been in cases where there we fundamental holes that the classic Monsanto Roundup NHL lawsuit does not have.

July 21, 2022: CDC Finds 8 Out of 10 People in U.S. Have Glyphosate in Urine

Glyphosate is the active chemical ingredient in Roundup that has been linked to lymphoma and is now considered a human carcinogen. The CDC released the surprising results of a study that found that 8 out of 10 people in the U.S. have glyphosate in their urine. The study tested urine samples from a group of participants designed to represent the U.S. population and found that 80% of the samples had trace amounts of glyphosate. The CDC indicated concern over the study results and suggested that additional research was needed. (If they are looking for a shortcut, there are many studies Roundup juries have seen that show the link between Roundup and NHL.)

July 4, 2022: Ninth Circuit Panel Urges EPA to Reconsider Roundup Conclusion 

A unanimous Ninth Circuit panel told the EPA to reconsider its conclusion that the weedkiller Roundup is free from “unreasonable risk to man or the environment.” The court agreed with environmental and food safety advocates that the EPA did not fully consider whether Roundup causes cancer. Importantly, the court pointed out that “most studies EPA examined indicated that human exposure to glyphosate is associated with an at least somewhat increased risk of developing NHL.” This does not jive with the EPA’s “not likely to cause cancer” conclusion.

Bayer’s momentum from a few wins in recent Roundup lawsuits is now dead. History is not on the side of glyphosate.

June 23, 2022: Bayer Wins Oregon Lawsuit

Bayer gets its fourth straight win in a Monsanto lawsuit in Oregon. Bayer’s Roundup lawyers have made a lot of mistakes in this litigation. But this new “settle the hard Roundup cancer lawsuits and try the claims that are difficult for plaintiffs” is giving Bayer new, albeit artificial, momentum.

June 11, 2022: Jury Sides With Bayer in Shelton Trial

June 4, 2022: Small Class Action Created in PA

An administrative judge in Philadelphia ordered that 100 pending Monsanto lawsuits be consolidated into a class action lawsuit. Judge Lysette Shirdon-Harris’ order effectively creates a mini Roundup class action lawsuit in Pennsylvania.

How can Bayer/Monsanto be sued in state court? The Roundup lawsuit being filed in Pennsylvania named Philadelphia-based chemical maker Nouryon as a defendant. This is a very favorable jurisdiction for defendants, so much so that plaintiffs outside of Pennsylvania are joining this Roundup class action lawsuit.

June 2, 2022: Former Monsanto CEO Testifies

Former Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant’s much-awaited testimony was given in Shelton last week. The most important concession from Mr. Grant was that Monsanto never bothered to do their own tests to see if there was a connection between Roundup and NHL or CLL.

May 11, 2022: Supreme Court Rejects Bayer’s Appeal

Big Bayer Monsanto news yesterday. The Biden administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Bayer’s appeal that argued every Roundup lawsuit because it is preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote that the “EPA’s approval of labeling that does not warn about particular chronic risks does not by itself preempt a state-law requirement to provide such warnings.” The Supreme Court had asked the administration if it believed the Supreme Court should hear Bayer’s appeal. This is a huge win for plaintiffs.

April 10, 2022: Supreme Court 

Much of the energy in the Roundup class action lawsuit is focused on whether the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Bayer’s preemption appeal. The Supreme Court has asked the Biden administration to submit a brief with its position on whether the government believes every Roundup Monsanto lawsuit should be preempted by the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

There is speculation that the Solicitor General will file a response in the late spring. The position the Biden administration will take is anyone’s guess. But it is hard to imagine a scenario where the Environmental Protection Agency – which reviews a pesticide every 15 years – will want to serve as police, judge, and jury on every lawsuit involving a pesticide.

December 18, 2021: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Rejects Bayer’s Preemption Argument

On Monday, the Supreme Court asked the Biden administration to “file a brief in this case expressing the views of the United States” in Bayer/Monsanto’s appeal of a $25 million verdict in the Roundup lawsuits. Monsanto took this news with glee, announcing it was halting further Roundup settlements pending the outcome of the appeal.

Bayer’s long-shot hope for avoiding future liability on Roundup cases has been this appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Hardeman case. Hardeman was awarded $25 million in damages after one of the first Roundup trials. Bayer has subsequently appealed that verdict arguing that the Roundup lawsuits should be legally precluded because federal regulators approved the product label on Roundup which did not contain a cancer warning.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals flatly rejected Bayer’s federal preemption argument and upheld the Hardeman verdict. Now Bayer has filed a Cert. A petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and overrule the decision of the Ninth Circuit. The SCOTUS appeal is considered a legal long-shot, the odds of the court even agreeing to hear the case is small. Why do our Roundup lawyers believe the chance of Supreme Court review is small? The key Supreme Court case on whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act preempts state law failure-to-warn claims found that it does not.

So are we worried about a Supreme Court Roundup ruling? Lawyers worry about everything. But, again, the odds of the Supreme Court overturning this Roundup verdict is low.

December 13, 2021: 4th Jury Trial Ends With Defense Verdict For Bayer

The 4^th jury trial in the ongoing Roundup litigation ended last week in a defense verdict for Bayer. The trial in Donnetta Stephens v. Monsanto was tried via Zoom because of California’s continuing COVID restrictions. The result was a disjointed and awkward proceeding that took nearly 3 months to complete. The trial was continuously plagued by technical difficulties. In the end, the jury found that the plaintiff’s use of Roundup was not the cause of her cancer.

Our Roundup lawyers are admittedly disheartened by the first loss in a prototypical Roundup case where the victim claims her non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was caused by the pesticide. For sure, Bayer’s lawyers will now think they now cracked the secret sauce to defend a Roundup NHL lawsuit. But this online trial is such a one-off it is hard to give much precedential value to this lawsuit in terms of calculating future settlement amounts for a Roundup lawsuit.

November 28, 2021: California Supreme Court Rejects Bayer’s Attempt To Reverse Compensation Award

The California Supreme Court rejected last week Bayer’s attempt to reverse an $86.2 million compensation award to a couple who both developed cancer after using Roundup. This is a big win that keeps the moment flowing with victims as the Roundup litigation continues to move into the post-settlement phase with new Roundup lawsuits being filed every week.

November 26, 2021: European Regulators Catch On To Unreliability Of Pesticide Literature

Regulators, at least those in Europe, are starting to catch on to the idea that the literature supporting the safety of pesticides like Roundup is mostly garbage. Only two of the eleven studies given to EU regulators were found to be reliable.

November 18, 2021: Bayer Wins First Defense Verdict

Bayer won its first trial in Roundup in a case in California state court alleging that a child’s rare form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma was caused by his mother’s use of Roundup in her garden. The jury found that the child’s exposure to Roundup was not a substantial cause of his cancer. This is the 4th Roundup trial and the first time Bayer has won a defense verdict. (2024 Update: it is worth mentioning that even after Bayer won this case at trial, it paid a confidential settlement amount to the victim. Ironically, Bayer is willing to pay a settlement to secure its win.)

Does this change the expected Roundup settlement amounts for the 25,000 who opted out of the $10 billion Roundup settlement or newly filed Monsanto weed killer lawsuits? No. The child in this case tragically developed Burkitt’s lymphoma, a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. A tragic case but it was a stretch to argue that the mother’s Roundup exposure was passed to the child.

Bayer is under attack from all sides. Last week, a federal judge in California gave the green light for a class action lawsuit against Bayer filed by pension funds that sued Bayer for failing to understand the litigation risks when it purchased Monsanto. Specifically, the lawsuit claims that Bayer lied about investigating the litigation risk associated with Roundup and simply “accepted at face value Monsanto’s characterization of its litigation risk.”

More details about the Stevens Roundup trial