Bayer Has Reached An Over $10B Settlement over Roundup Cancer Lawsuits

German multinational pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer has reached an over $10 billion settlement in Roundup cancer lawsuits.

According to an announcement from the company this week, Bayer will pay more than $10 billion to resolve thousands of lawsuits regarding claims that its herbicide Roundup causes cancer.

It was in 2018 when Monsanto, a company Bayer bought that year, had lost a lawsuit by a school groundskeeper who alleged that the weedkiller caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Thousands of U.S. lawsuits have been filed against the company since then.

Bayer CEO Werner Baumann called the decision to settle the lawsuits the right one in order to end a long period of uncertainty.

“The decision to resolve the Roundup litigation enables us to focus fully on the critical supply of health care and food,” he said in statement. “It will also return the conversation about the safety and utility of glyphosate-based herbicides to the scientific and regulatory arena and to the full body of science.”

The company has not admitted to any wrongdoing or liability with the settlement.

In a press release the company said it would pay $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to settle existing lawsuits and then another $1.25 billion that will cover any potential litigation in the future.

Kenneth Feinberg, a court-appointed mediator for the settlement, called the deal a “constructive and reasonable” resolution.

“The significant progress made to date — which exceeds the initial participation rates of other claims resolution proceedings — provides a robust framework that will enable the parties to bring closure to the current Roundup litigation in due course,” he said.

Disclaimer: We have no position in Bayer AG (OTCMKTS: BAYRY) and have not been compensated for this article.