Bayer To Pay $2.25B After Roundup Weed Killer Found To Cause a Man’s Cancer

A Pennsylvania landscaper has won a record payout from Bayer. He maintained that the company’s weed killer Roundup caused his blood cancer, and for that, he was awarded $2.25 billion.

John McKivison, 49, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His attorneys alleged the disease was a result of McKivison using the weed killer for two decades in his business, reported Reuters.

McKivison successfully argued that Monsanto and parent company Bayer were “negligent” and “failed to warn about the dangers” of its product. The verdict includes $250 million in compensatory damages and $2 billion in punitive damages.

McKivison’s attorneys, Tom Kline and Jason Itkin, said in a joint statement that “the jury’s punitive damages award sends a clear message that this multi-national corporation needs top to bottom change.”

However, Bayer, in its own statement, said it disagreed “with the jury’s adverse verdict that conflicts with the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence and worldwide regulatory and scientific assessments, and believe that we have strong arguments on appeal to get this verdict overturned and the unconstitutionally excessive damage award eliminated or reduced.”

The company said its product is not a carcinogen, refuting a World Health Organization report that said otherwise, even though Bayer has already settled past disputes involving its product’s links with cancer totaling more than $10 billion.

According to the New York Post, Friday’s verdict marked the fifth loss in a row for Bayer in court. The company has given out over $500 million in the last three litigation losses. Valorie Gunther of New York, Jimmy Draeger of Missouri, and Daniel Anderson of California “were awarded $61.1 million in compensatory damages and $500 million each in punitive damages.”

All three individuals alleged that Roundup was the cause of their non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnoses. Draeger’s wife, Brenda, also received $100,000 for the harm she supposedly suffered due to her husband’s disease.

According to the Mayo Clinic, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma usually starts in white blood cells and leads to symptoms like enlarged lymph nodes, dramatic weight loss, fatigue, night sweats, and trouble breathing. This type of cancer can result from exposure to cancer-causing chemicals such as glyphosate, the key ingredient in the weed killer.