Bayer Ordered to Pay Billions Amid Weedkiller Controversy
The multinational pharmaceutical giant Bayer has been ordered to pay $2.25 billion to Pennsylvania resident John McKivision, as mandated by a Philadelphia jury. This comes after McKivision claimed his non-Hodgkin lymphoma was the result of his extensive use of the Bayer product, Roundup weedkiller. The staggering judgement includes $2 billion in punitive damages and an additional $250 million in compensatory damages. This latest update comes directly from our source at Reader Wall.
An Escalating Problem for Bayer
Bayer’s recent setback is only one in a growing list of against the corporation. Around 165,000 claims have been made against Bayer in the United States alone, most pointing to Roundup weedkiller as the cause of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The most alarming part for the company is that it already lost over $2 billion in verdicts from various trials in 2020. However, Bayer managed to settle the majority of these pending cases for an estimated total of $9.6 billion. Unfortunately for Bayer, these settlement agreements excluded future cases, leaving the company with an excess of 50,000 unresolved claims.
Bayer’s Reaction and Future Plans
Despite the recent ruling, Bayer maintains its innocence, claiming the verdict goes against scientific proof and regulatory evaluations. News from our source, Reader Wall, tells us that Bayer plans to appeal the decision. The corporation strongly believes it has a solid case to either overturn the verdict or at least reduce the damages awarded. They cite past instances where damages were substantially reduced on appeal for similar cases.
As the legal battles around Roundup continue, Bayer has already decided to withdraw the product from home use sales. Moreover, the company is considering an internal restructuring and has paused any plans to split off its crop science business. Despite these efforts, the reputation and financial damage from the ongoing Roundup litigation continues to cause significant concern for the company.
