Mediator Indicates Progress In Roundup Lawsuits

Mediator Indicates Progress In Roundup Lawsuits

Introduction

Mediation attorney Kenneth Feinberg, overseeing the controversial weedkiller Roundup's settlement negotiations in the litigation, has indicated that progress is being made towards a potential resolution.

Bayer revealed that they are now facing more than 43,000 product liability claims nationwide brought on behalf of individuals diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, allegedly caused due to the exposure to their weedkiller. The pharma giant was held liable in May and was asked to pay more than $2 billion, later reduced to under $87 million, in a lawsuit involving a husband and wife, who were each diagnosed with cancer following the use of the weedkiller. 

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, presiding over the federal litigation, ordered the parties to engage in a mediation process with prominent attorney Ken Feinberg before remanding the cases back to U.S. District Courts nationwide for individual trial dates. 

Ken Feinberg has overseen some of the largest mass-tort settlements in recent years, which includes funds to pay claims related to the BP oil spill, Volkswagen emissions scandal, General Motors ignition switch recall, and September 11th Victim Compensation fund.

IARC, considered to be the apex in the field of cancer research, classified glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen.” According to IARC, Roundup is made up of other ingredients that are toxic in themselves, and are also known to increase the toxicity of glyphosate. Monsanto has known this for many years but still refuses to study the link between cancer and Roundup.

Monsanto has a brief history of legal troubles and Glyphosate is just another herbicide of the company to attract lawsuits. Plaintiffs across the U.S. have filed numerous lawsuits. A plaintiff from one of the Roundup lawsuits claims that she worked as a grower’s assistant on a crop field in New York from 1994 to 1998 where Roundup was regularly sprayed indoors and outdoors resulting in chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 2012. She eventually quit the job and is currently seeking reasonable compensation and punitive damages in court.