By Jennifer Whitlock
Field Editor
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upheld a district court’s judgement and trial verdict in favor of a California resident who alleged the use of Roundup caused him to contract non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
In 2019, a jury awarded Edwin Hardeman $5 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages, which the district court later reduced to $20 million.
Bayer AG, which bought Roundup manufacturer Monsanto in 2018, appealed the $25 million award shortly after the judgement was made.
The U.S. court rejected Bayer’s appeal, ruling 2-1 that the $20 million in punitive damages was constitutional.
Multiple investigations, including a 2018 congressional inquiry into the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s assessment of glyphosate later revealed the report underwent major changes and deletions before being finalized and made public, including the removal of multiple scientists’ statements that their studies found no link between glyphosate and cancer in lab animal testing.
Bayer said it was disappointed with the court’s decision because the verdict was not supported by evidence at trial or the law.
“In particular, we believe the 9th Circuit decision is wrong on the issue of federal preemption as it is not possible for Monsanto to comply with federal law under which [the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)] has determined that a cancer warning is unwarranted and improper and also comply with state law failure-to-warn claims seeking the very cancer warning EPA forbids,” the company said.
The company added it will pursue all legal options, including petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.
Bayer continues “to stand strongly behind the safety of Roundup, a position supported by four decades of extensive science and the assessments of leading health regulators worldwide that support its safe use.”
The appeals court’s full decision is available here.