Bayer wins two Roundup cases in Calif., makes appeal asserting that federal pesticide regulations trump state rules

"Bayer AG won a second consecutive trial in California over its top-selling Roundup weedkiller, as a jury rejected a woman’s claim that it caused her cancer," Jef Feeley reports for Bloomberg. "The verdict Thursday in state court in San Bernardino follows a Los Angeles jury’s Oct. 5 decision rejecting a mother’s claim that her young son developed cancer from exposure to the herbicide in the family’s yard."

The verdicts come after Bayer lost three similar California trials in 2018. It wants the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out one of the cases on the grounds that federal herbicide regulations trump state regulations. A successful appeal "could help the company fend off thousands of Roundup suits," Feeley reports.

Bayer will pull the current version of Roundup from the lawn-and-garden market in 2023, but will still sell the chemical to farmers. Its active ingredient, glyphosate, has long been controversial due to reports that it can harm people, pollinators and endangered species, can increase pesticide resistance in crops, and harm crops that aren't genetically engineered to survive it.