Bayer – Monsanto has budgeted an additional US$4.5 billion to cover the costs of the ongoing glyphosate lawsuits – on top of the US$11.6 already unsuccessfully offered to settle the litigation in progress (1) – and announces to withdraw the Roundup from the U.S. market for consumer products, that is, for non-professional use, starting in 2023. (2)
However, the California Court of Appeal rejected his umpteenth appeal and upheld the US$2 billion exemplary sentence. For causing bone and brain tumors in Mr. and Mrs. Pilliod, who became ill after decades of using the world’s best-selling herbicide in their backyard. (3) Convictions rain, stocks plummet.
Bayer, $16.1 billion earmarked to cover U.S. compensation actions
7/29/21 Werner Baumann – CEO (Chief Executive Officer) of Bayer AG-announced the total allocation of $16.1 billion-equivalent to 31.5 percent of the group’s global sales (2019)-to cover the costs associated with possible convictions, and hoped-for settlements, in the more than 10,000 pending U.S. compensation actions. The CEO also stated the decision to remove glyphosate-based herbicides from the ‘consumers‘ market – in the U.S., starting in 2023 – again with the aim of mitigating the risks associated with claims and class actions.
The largest sales volumes, after all, are realized in the professional sector, and U.S. farmers-thanks in part to Roundup-ready GMO soybean crops (i.e., resistant, it alone, to glyphosate)-are using the herbicide in more than double the quantities than the limits on the basis of which it was authorized. (4) The boundary between sales for professional or household use has since been thwarted, in fact, by the smuggling of agrotoxics through Amazon and other ecommerce sites. (5) Investors had thus appreciated the statements of Bayer, whose shares had risen as high as 51.16 euros, on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.
Glyphosate, convictions rain down for Bayer – Monsanto
The first three convictions-for exemplary damages to people who contracted non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers after years of regular use of glyphosate-occurred a few weeks after Bayer’s $63 billion purchase of Monsanto was completed. And they have resulted in the loss of tens of billions of dollars in financial value of the German group.
The first case involved gardener Dewayne Johnson, (6) the second involved farmer Edward Hardeman, (7) and the third involved Mr. and Mrs. Alva and Alberta Pilliod. (3)
The first conviction was upheld on appeal on 10/23/18, the second on 5/14/21, (8) the third on 8/9/21. (9) An added incentive to bring new lawsuits, which analysts say should prompt Bayer AG to separate its three business areas (chemicals, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals).
Verdict last, maybe even final
‘We believe that substantial evidence supports the jury’s [first instance] verdicts. Monsanto’s conduct showed reckless disregard for the health and safety of a multitude of unsuspecting consumers whom it kept in the dark. This was not an isolated incident; Monsanto’s conduct involved repeated actions over a period of many years, motivated by the desire to sell and profit‘ (Court of Appeal of the State of California, Pilliod v. Monsanto case, judgment 9.8.21. See footnote 9)
Bayer AG’s shares obviously suffered yet another collapse, -10% in a few days (€47.36 at today’s close). His last chance rests with an appeal to the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court considers less than 5 percent of appeal requests, Professor Elizabeth Burch explains to Bloomberg. The professor of mass-tort cases at the University of Georgia adds that the court issued a ruling in 2005 that conflicts with Bayer’s arguments. (2)
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) Dario Dongo. PCBs, glyphosate, dicamba. 11 billion from Bayer to settle class action lawsuits. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6/24/20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/pcb-glifosato-dicamba-11-miliardi-di-dollari-da-bayer-per-chiudere-le-class-action
(2) Tim Loh, Jef Filey. Bayer’s Roundup Costs Could Top $16 Billion as Provisions. Bloomberg. 29.7.21,
(3) Dario Dongo. Glyphosate, $2 billion conviction for Monsanto. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 5/15/19, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/glifosate-condanna-da-2-miliardi-di-dollari-per-monsanto
(4) Dario Dongo. Glyphosate and GMO soybeans, the big scam. Scientific study. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 6.1.20, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/glifosato-e-soia-ogm-la-grande-truffa-studio-scientifico
(5) Dario Dongo. Ecommerce, pesticide smuggling. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 10/19/18, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/ecommerce-contrabbando-di-pesticidi
(6) Dario Dongo. Glyphosate, Monsanto’s conviction in the US upheld. GIFT(Great Italian Food Trade). 10/28/18, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/glifosate-confermata-la-condanna-di-monsanto-in-usa
(7) Dario Dongo. Glyphosate is bad for you. New studies and second conviction coming to U.S.. GIFT (Great Italian Food Trade). 3/21/19, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/salute/il-glifosate-fa-male-nuovi-studi-e-seconda-condanna-in-arrivo-in-usa
(8) US Courts of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Edward Hardeman v. Monsanto Company. 5.14.21 ruling, https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/9th-circuit-appeals-court-ruling-on-Hardeman-v-Monsanto.pdf
(9) Court of Appeal of the State of California, First Appellate District. Alberta Pilliod et al. v. Monsanto Company. 8.9.21 ruling, https://usrtk.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Pilliod-Opinion.pdf
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
