- Bayer hailed decision; bipartisan lawmakers criticized the ruling’s impact.
Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez
The US Supreme Court on Thursday ruled to rein in lawsuits alleging that Germany-based agrochemical manufacturer Bayer failed to warn users of the cancer risks posed by the company’s Roundup weedkiller.
What are the details of the Supreme Court ruling on Roundup?
The conservative-majority US top court, in a 7-2 decision, overturned a verdict in Missouri which awarded $1.25 million (€1.1 million) to a man named John Durnell.
Durnell had argued that years of Roundup weedkiller use had caused his blood cancer diagnosis.
Durnell’s case referred to the International Agency for Research on Cancer’s classification that glyphosate, a key ingredient in Roundup, is a probably human carcinogen. The International Agency for Research on Cancer is a part of World Health Organization of the United Nations.
However, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not classify glyphosate as a carcinogen and has approved the sale of Roundup without a warning label.
US Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative who was appointed by US President Donald Trump, said Durnell’s argument would “require Monsanto to add a cancer warning to Roundup’s label even though federal law requires Monsanto to use the EPA-approved label without a cancer warning.”
Ketanji Brown Jackson, a left-leaning justice appointed by former Democratic President Joe Biden, characterized the ruling as “remarkable and regrettable, for it unjustifiably closes the courthouse doors to state torts plaintiffs like Durnell.”
Neil Gorsuch, a conservative justice appointed by Trump, had joined Jackson in the dissent.
Bayer hails ruling as good for science, farmers and industry
Monsanto originally manufactured Roundup, with Bayer acquiring Monsanto in 2018.
Bayer hailed the ruling in a statement saying that it “is good for science, farmers and industries that depend on regulatory clarity for innovation.”
“It should help significantly contain the Roundup litigation after nearly a decade of legal battles,” the company added.
Bayer’s shares spiked after the US Supreme Court ruling.
Trump administration has backed Bayer in its legal battle; Trump also signed an executive order boosting glyphosate production in the US. That executive order has been met with criticism from Make America Healthy Again movement which is allied with the Trump White House.
Supreme Court decision met with bipartisan blowback
Members of Trump’s Republican Party and the opposition Democrats criticized the ruling.
“The Supreme Court just ruled to protect Roundup,” US Republican Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina wrote on X.
“The health of the American people should come before the profits of corporate giants. Every single time. Americans have a right to know what they’ve been exposed to.”
Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey said it “is a devastating blow in our fight to hold big pesticide companies accountable for the harm caused by their toxic chemicals.”
(Disclaimer: This report first appeared on Deutsche Welle, and has been republished on ABP Live as part of a special arrangement. Apart from the headline, no changes have been made in the report by ABP Live.)
