Judge Reduces Punitive Damages in Glyphosate Lawsuit Against Bayer to $400 Million
A judge in Pennsylvania has significantly reduced the punitive damages in a glyphosate lawsuit against Bayer, slashing it from 225 billion to 400 million dollars. In a ruling on Tuesday, Judge Susan Schulman sided with Bayer's objections and also reduced the compensatory damages to 50 million dollars, bringing the total punitive damages down to 350 million dollars. Despite the reduction, Bayer has announced plans to appeal the judgement, stating that they still disagree with the liability verdict due to significant errors in the proceedings. The lawsuit was filed by plaintiff John McKivison, who linked his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma to years of using the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup in gardening. Initially, a jury had awarded McKivison compensatory damages of 250 million dollars and punitive damages of two billion dollars. Roundup, one of the most widely used herbicides in the USA, has been at the center of legal controversies since Bayer acquired Monsanto in 2018. The company faced thousands of lawsuits over allegations that Roundup causes cancer, despite Bayer maintaining that extensive studies have proven its safety. While global authorities classify glyphosate as non-carcinogenic, the World Health Organization's cancer research agency labeled it as 'probably carcinogenic' in 2015. Bayer's CEO, Anderson, has expressed concerns about the potential existential consequences of the ongoing glyphosate lawsuits.
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