Germany’s Bayer has been recently involved in a series of scandals, among them a claim that the weedkiller Roundup had caused a man cancer. The US Supreme Court declined to hear Bayer’s appeal and ruled in favor of the complainant, awarding him $25 million (€23.7 million).
Bayer has been also facing litigation since 2018 when it took over Monsanto group. There have been more than 30,000 claims raised and Bayer has been trying to also appeal to the US Supreme Court to review the case involving Roundup. The decision caused a wave of decline in Bayer’s shares which fell almost 4 percent after the court’s decision.
The decision frustrates Bayer’s plan to stem the wave of litigation it has faced since its $63bn takeover of agrichemicals group Monsanto in 2018. More than 30,000 claims remain outstanding, for which Bayer set aside $4.5bn last year while it appealed to the Supreme Court to review the case won by Californian Edwin Hardeman.
“Bayer respectfully disagrees with the Supreme Court’s decision,” the group said in a statement on Tuesday. “The company believes that the decision undermines the ability of companies to rely on official actions taken by expert regulatory agencies.”
Public opinion claims that Bayer will now try to seek rapid settlements to avoid large fines imposed by the court.
They also announced the decision of stopping the sale of glyphosate-based products to non-industrial customers in the US with the start of 2023.
