Bayer scores major Roundup victory as thousands of cancer lawsuits loom

A jury in St. Louis has cleared Bayer of claims that its Roundup weedkiller caused the cancers of three women, in the first case to reach trial since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the company's favor.The unanimous verdict went to Bayer-owned Monsanto on Thursday.The decision came as a separate court in Missouri weighs the company's $7.25 billion plan to settle tens of thousands of other Roundup cases.The trial was a test for the continued viability of Roundup lawsuits after a Supreme Court ruling in Bayer's favor limited the legal claims that plaintiffs can bringBayer's U.S. general counsel and global head of litigation, Bill Dodero, said the verdict showed how difficult it would be for other plaintiffs to win cases after the Supreme Court ruling."This verdict should send a strong signal that plaintiffs who wish to pursue claims in the court system following the Durnell ruling will face significant challenges both in demonstrating they have viable claims and putting forth the necessary evidence to prove them in court," Dodero said in a statement.The trial was watched as a test of whether Roundup lawsuits can still succeed, after the Supreme Court limited the legal claims plaintiffs can bring.The litigation has weighed on Bayer since its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto, costing the company billions of dollars and driving down its share price."The People vs the Poison" protesters gather at the Supreme Court on April 27, 2026 (Getty)Theresa Aretino, Cynthia Fernandez and Betty Larkin sued Monsanto in St. Louis in 2020.The plaintiffs said they used Roundup regularly and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma.Their attorneys argued that Roundup was defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous, and that Bayer negligently sold it.None of the three women is participating in Bayer's proposed settlement.Fernandez died before the trial began.Bill Dodero, Bayer's general counsel and global head of litigation, said the verdict showed how difficult it would be for other plaintiffs to win cases after the Supreme Court ruling (AFP/Getty)Reuters viewed the trial and verdict on Courtroom View Network.Attorneys for Aretino, Fernandez and Larkin did not immediately respond to a request for comment late on Thursday.Bayer has denied the claims.The company said that decades of studies have shown glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient, is safe and does not cause cancer.Around 65,000 claims are pending against Bayer in U.S. state and federal courts, from plaintiffs who say they developed cancer after using Roundup at home or on the job.Before this year's Supreme Court ruling, most lawsuits had alleged that Roundup's label failed to warn consumers about cancer risks.The court blocked those legal arguments in June, ruling that federal law requires herbicide makers to use the exact label approved by the Environmental Protection Agency.The EPA has concluded that Roundup's label does not require a cancer warning.Bayer has argued that the Supreme Court's ruling also forecloses other legal claims, including design-defect and negligence.Plaintiffs' attorneys have argued that the ruling does not affect those claims.The EPA has previously concluded that glyphosate is probably not carcinogenic, but it is conducting a new review of its safety.In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded that glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic” to humans, but Bayer has said that is an outlier opinion based on flawed methodology.