Close to 96,000 claims involving weed killer Roundup have been or are in the process of being settled under a $9.6 billion plan agreed to between manufacturer Bayer and plaintiff attorneys, the company says.
But a federal judge in California has shut the door on a separate proposal to settle future litigation.
Judge Vince Chhabria, of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, rejected a $2 billion agreement, which had been criticized by attorneys who were not part of the negotiations.
Chhabria
Chhabria largely echoed criticisms of the trial bar, describing the settlement as “clearly unreasonable” for consumers who are exposed to Roundup but aren’t yet diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and which they may not be for a decade of longer.
"The class plan relates solely to potential future litigation and is separate from the current litigation settlement announced last year. We still expect the resolution of currents to be covered by the range we announced last June," a Bayer spokesperson told the St. Louis Record.
The company says it remains open to resolving existing claims on appropriate terms but also will be reassessing whether these settlements are in the company’s interest as we move ahead.
"We cannot disclose specifics on Roundup payments to date, as individual settlement agreements and amounts are confidential," said the spokesperson.
"Approximately 96,000 claims are subject to final resolutions or settlements in process, or have been found to be not eligible for compensation under the terms of the settlement agreements."
Judge Chhabria, in his ruling, said there are "most glaring flaws” in the deal struck on future claimants.
The settlement included a four year moratorium on claims during which time a medical panel would monitor and study the claimed links between the weedkiller and NHL. Chhabria said the provisions “greatly exaggerate” the benefits of “vaguely described medical monitoring.”
Benefits of a compensation fund are “also vastly overstated," the judge stated.
Following Chhabria's shooting down of the settlement, Bayer announced a five point plan which the German conglomerate, which took over St. Louis-based Monsanto in a $60 billion deal in mid-2018, claimed would address future litigation.
It will create a new website that will include studies on Roundup and lobby the EPA to approve language from them.
"This website will not make any claims or draw conclusions about the safety of Roundup; instead, in the interest of transparency and accessibility, it would provide a one-stop resource for consumers and professional users to a significant body of scientific study to help them make their own decisions about their use of the products," Vaulman said.
The company is also considering the future of its lawn and garden market, including the possibility of removing glyphosate from the product sold to households. The majority of claimants are in that market segment.
"There will be no product recall,” said Liam Condon, head of Bayer's crop-science unit on a conference call Thursday. “What we’re discussing with our partners is the future of the active ingredient, that’s all.”
It ruled out any formula changes for the professional and agricultural space.
The company says it remains open to settlement discussions but also is pursuing appeals on pre-emption and expert evidence that could be heard by the Supreme Court.
“We have an alternative course of action: we are in charge and in control now,” Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said. “We continue to pursue a comparable solution. There are different ways to skin a cat.”