The Bayer-Roundup Battle

Understand the complex legal battle over Roundup, a weedkiller linked to cancer.

June 01, 2025

You’ve probably heard about the legal firestorm surrounding Roundup, the popular weedkiller.

For years, it was considered safe—until thousands of people began claiming it caused their cancer.

Now Bayer, which bought Roundup’s original maker Monsanto, is facing tens of thousands of lawsuits.

Here's a breakdown of what’s happening and why it matters.

Let’s get into it

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The heart of the matter: A chemical controversy

For decades, many farmers and home gardeners relied on a weedkiller called Roundup. Produced by a company called Monsanto.

The active ingredient in Roundup is something called glyphosate. For years, Monsanto assured everyone this was safe and effective.

In 2018, a huge German pharmaceutical and life sciences company called Bayer decided to buy Monsanto.

With this massive acquisition Bayer also bought all Monsanto’s problems. So, now, when people sue over roundup, they are suing Bayer.

The problem wasn't about weeds; it was about cancer. Specifically, a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).

The spark: "Probably carcinogenic"

The first big crack in Roundup's "safe" image came in 2015. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate as "probably carcinogenic to humans." 

This was a big moment.

A respected scientific group raising a yellow flag about a product many people thought was completely safe.

The lawsuits begin: A wave of claims

For many people who had used Roundup for years and then developed NHL, the IARC classification was a shocking revelation. They felt like they had been using a product they were told was safe, only to find out it might have been making them sick.

This led to a flood of lawsuits against Monsanto (and now Bayer, as the new owner).

Since 2015, this battle has dragged through courts, boardrooms, and now, potentially, the Supreme Court.

Over 177,000 lawsuits have been filed as of May 2025.

The two sides

Team A: The people who got sick (The Plaintiffs)

  1. "The company knew about the risk." They claim that Monsanto (and now Bayer) knew, or should have known, that glyphosate could cause cancer, but they didn't tell anyone.

  2. Monsanto failed to warn consumers about these risks. They didn't put a clear warning label on Roundup, so people continued to use it without understanding the potential danger. This is the "failure-to-warn" claim.

  3. "It caused my cancer." They argue that their use of Roundup was a direct cause of their specific type of cancer.

Team B: Bayer (The Defendant)

Bayer's arguments are different:

  1. "The regulators say it's safe." They point to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA has consistently said that glyphosate is "not likely to cause cancer in humans" when used according to directions. Bayer says, "If the main government agency for chemicals says it's safe, why should we be blamed?" 

  2. "The science isn't clear." Bayer argues that the IARC's view is just one scientific opinion, and there are many other studies and scientific bodies that disagree and find glyphosate safe. They say that just because someone used Roundup and got cancer doesn't mean the Roundup caused the cancer.

  3. "Juries are emotional." When juries have awarded very large sums of money, Bayer often argues that these decisions are based more on sympathy for the sick people than on solid scientific proof.

The legal rollercoaster: Wins, losses, and appeals

This situation has been playing out in courtrooms for years.

  • Early Big Losses: In the beginning, Bayer (inheriting Monsanto's problem) lost some big trials. Juries awarded hundreds of millions, sometimes billions, of dollars to people who claimed Roundup caused their cancer. These were very expensive defeats for Bayer.

  • Attempted Settlement: Because there were so many lawsuits – tens of thousands – Bayer tried to settle many of them to stop the bleeding. In 2020, they announced a plan to pay about $10.9 billion to resolve a large number of the existing claims. This was an attempt to “buy” peace and end a lot of the legal uncertainty.

  • Ongoing Cases and New Losses: Even after the big settlement, many lawsuits continued, and new ones are still being filed. Recently, Bayer has continued to lose some trials. For example, in 2024, juries in states like Georgia and Pennsylvania awarded significant amounts (tens of millions to billions of dollars) to plaintiffs. This shows that juries are still finding against Bayer in new cases.

Bayer's strategy to end the fight

  1. Appeals, Appeals, Appeals: When Bayer loses a case, they almost always appeal the verdict. This is like a boxer asking for a rematch, hoping a higher court will see things their way. They argue that legal errors were made or that the damages awarded were excessive.

  2. Asking the Supreme Court for Help (Federal Preemption): This is a big one. Bayer is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on a legal concept called "federal preemption." In simple terms, they argue that because the EPA, a federal agency, approved Roundup's label without a cancer warning, states shouldn't be allowed to have their own laws that effectively say a warning should have been there. If the Supreme Court agrees with Bayer, it could essentially shut down thousands of lawsuits based on "failure-to-warn" claims. This would be a massive victory for Bayer.

  3. Changing the Product: Bayer is in the process of removing glyphosate from Roundup products sold for home use (like those you'd buy at a hardware store). They say this is to manage litigation risk, not because of safety concerns.

  4. Considering Bankruptcy for Monsanto: There have been reports that Bayer has thought about putting its Monsanto subsidiary into bankruptcy. This would be a way to manage the massive legal debts, potentially separating them from Bayer's main business. It's a complex financial and legal maneuver.

  5. Pushing for State Legislation: Bayer is also actively lobbying state governments to pass laws that would shield them from these kinds of "failure-to-warn" lawsuits. Some states, like Georgia, have passed such laws, though they often have delayed effective dates.

Why it matters?

The Bayer-Roundup lawsuit is about far more than one product.

  • It raises serious questions about how companies develop and sell products that affect public health — and what happens when those products may cause harm.

  • It exposes a clash between scientific research, government regulators like the EPA, and the legal system. When experts disagree, who decides what's truly safe?

  • The outcome, especially if the Supreme Court gets involved, could reshape how companies are held accountable nationwide.

  • And with tens of thousands of lawsuits and billions of dollars at stake, the ripple effects stretch from Bayer’s balance sheet to the entire agricultural industry.

In short, it’s a high-stakes battle over trust, science, and corporate responsibility.

The final chapter of this complex story is still being written.

KEY AG TERM
Glyphosate

Imagine a plant. To grow, it needs to build certain tiny parts inside itself, like miniature bricks. Glyphosate is a chemical, and it's the key ingredient in many weedkillers, like Roundup.

When you spray glyphosate on a plant, the plant takes it in. Once inside, glyphosate acts like a very specific wrench that jams a crucial machine in the plant. This "machine" is an enzyme that plants need to make their special building blocks (amino acids).

Because this enzyme is jammed, the plant can't make those essential building blocks. Without them, it can't grow, and eventually, it just starves and dies.

That’s how glyphosate works.

 THINGS I’M READING

(A list of things I bookmarked instead of doomscrolling)

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