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Judge wary of Bayer Roundup settlement offer

ST. LOUIS RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

Judge wary of Bayer Roundup settlement offer

Federal Court
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Pharmaceutical giant Bayer offered to settle Roundup cancer suits, but U.S. District Judge Chhabria is skeptical of the settlement. | Needpix.com

ST. LOUIS – Pharmaceutical giant Bayer had offered to settle most Roundup cancer suits with a $10.9 billion payout, but U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria remains skeptical of Bayer.

“My concern is that if I leave the stay in place, am I complicit in whatever shenanigans are taking place on the Bayer side?” Chhabria said during a recent hearing, Bloomberg reported.

The news website reported that Bayer manipulated the settlement process after making an announcement that it had plans to resolve 125,000 cases back in June.

The judge said he will decide in a month whether to keep the litigation on hold.

“A mass tort settlement of this size and complexity can take significant time before it is fully executed, and we are still early in this process," Bayer said in an email to the St. Louis Record. "There are often some bumps in the road in implementing a resolution of this magnitude, but we remain confident that a comprehensive settlement will be finalized and executed. Indeed, while we support the court’s dual track approach over the next 30 days, we are optimistic that the finalization of the settlements over this time will make any further steps on the litigation track unnecessary.”

Bayer agreed in June to pay up to $10.9 billion to settle 75% of the 125,000 Roundup cases pending.

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