Bayer considers Monsanto bankrupcy as one way to settle thousands of Roundup lawsuits

Roundup is used by farmers
around the world.

 

Despite being the most popular herbicide in the world, Roundup continues to be at the heart of thousands of lawsuits alleging the product's active ingredient, glyphosate, is linked to human cancers. Bayer, which owns Roundup, is working on resolving the lawsuits while "exploring a bankruptcy filing for its Monsanto agriculture business," report Andrew Scurria, Akiko Matsuda, Patrick Thomas and Alexander Gladstone of The Wall Street Journal.

Because Bayer has already attempted and failed to resolve much of its Roundup litigation, the "German drug and agriculture conglomerate is preparing a bankruptcy filing," intended to "cover the weedkiller’s U.S. manufacturer, Monsanto," the Journal reports. "A Chapter 11 filing by Monsanto would pause lawsuits against the division and open a path to settling its share of Roundup-related liability in bankruptcy court."

Roundup was developed by Monsanto and sold to U.S. farmers and gardeners beginning around 1974. The product was used for roughly 40 years before lawsuits against Monsanto began following a study published in 2013 that suggested glyphosate may cause human cancer. The Journal reports, "Lawsuits alleging a link between glyphosate — the key ingredient in Roundup — and cancer have dogged Bayer since its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto."

Roundup litigation, payouts and company stock slumps have cost Bayer billions and led the company to warn "farmers, suppliers and retailers that it may stop producing Roundup absent a resolution of the tort claims. . . . Bayer’s shares are down about 75% since it acquired Monsanto in 2018," according to the Wall Street Journal report. "The Roundup litigation has cost the company about $10 billion in legal payouts as part of the $16 billion it has so far set aside for settlements."

Nonetheless, the company said it "is committed to resolving its litigation headache in the next 12 to 18 months," the Journal reports. "About 67,000 cases alleging it caused plaintiffs’ cancer are pending. . . . U.S. farmers rely on Roundup to produce soybean, corn and cotton crops that are genetically modified to withstand the weedkiller."

To read how Bayer could use bankruptcy to carve out lawsuit resolutions, click here.