Some health and environmental experts have linked the weed killer Roundup to cancer. As a result, Bayer, the brand’s parent company, has been sued several times for failing to disclose the product’s dangers. Now Bayer has turned to state governments and Congress to push for bills that would protect the company from billion-dollar lawsuits.
Weed killers and legal issues
Bayer wants to avoid lawsuits over allegations that its weed killer Roundup CancerCertain versions of the herbicide contain glyphosate as an active ingredient, which some studies have shown can lead to debilitating and fatal diseases such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Nevertheless, the Environmental Protection Agency does not consider the chemical to be carcinogenic. “Bayer was inundated with lawsuits and had to pay more than $14 billion to plaintiffs between settlements and jury verdicts,” said The New RepublicWith billions at stake, Bayer has decided to escalate the matter to higher authorities.
The company claims the lawsuits pose a significant threat to its business. Bayer inherited a large number of lawsuits after it bought the agricultural giant. Monsanto in 2018. “Bayer says it has filed about 170,000 lawsuits alleging that Roundup has harmed farm workers who were exposed to the weed killer for long periods of time,” said The Washington Post. “About a third of these claims are still open, and in some cases juries have awarded plaintiffs astronomical damages.” Many Farms Agriculture also continues to rely on glyphosate to control weeds. In addition to the needs of agriculture, according to the Modern Ag Alliance, led by Bayer, “500 jobs in Iowa and 800 in Idaho are at risk in connection with glyphosate production,” according to a statement from the The Associated Press.
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The bigger picture
Bayer is pushing bills in Idaho, Iowa and Missouri that would “effectively immunize the company against allegations that its chemicals cause cancer,” according to the Post. The impact of these laws could extend well beyond Bayer. For example, the language of the Iowa bill “could be interpreted in a way that would prevent anyone from suing,” Jonathan Cardi, a product liability and tort expert at Wake Forest University School of Law, told AP. In general, “it’s just not good policy to give a company immunity for things it doesn’t tell its consumers,” Matt Clement, a Jefferson City, Missouri, lawyer who represents plaintiffs suing Bayer, told AP. While the bill was defeated in Idaho, the bills in Iowa and Missouri are still pending.
Bayer is also targeting federal laws to intervene. The company is specifically targeting the Farm Bill, which Congress passes every five years to maintain the nation’s agriculture and nutrition programs. “The House’s roughly 1,000-page version of the bill includes a single section — written with help from Bayer — that could stop some lawsuits against Roundup,” the Post said. “Bayer helped draft that bill, then circulated it among lawmakers to gain support, and later pushed the House to include it in the farm bill.” The bill is up for renewal in September. The bill’s supporters claim the provision could support the agricultural supply chain and secure the nation’s food supply. In addition, lobbyists have turned their attention to the Law on the uniform labelling of agricultural productsthat would “prevent state and local governments from enacting their own regulations on pesticide safety warnings” and instead require them to “follow the federal government’s lead on what to label and when,” according to the Post.
“We know that legislative solutions don’t usually come quickly, but we think it’s the right thing to pursue,” Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said on a conference call with investors. Opponents argue that the government blocking these lawsuits will allow the company to operate without fear of legal consequences. “They’ve lost so far, so they’re going to Congress hat in hand and trying to change the law,” Daniel Savery, a senior lawmaker with the climate change group Earthjustice, told The Washington Post of Bayer.
