If Bayer is a name the world is well-acquainted with, it has much to thank Monsanto for. Established in 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri, the company rapidly went from manufacturing artificial sweeteners to chemical-based weed killers.
Upon taking a closer look, there can be no doubt that Monsanto’s entry into the world of agriculture has been unwelcome. In 2013, a march against this company was organized across the world. People protested believing that the ultimate aim of the company was to control the world’s food supply.
With genetically modified seeds cropping up over the years, the concerns and speculations aged like milk. However, the journey started with the infamous Roundup weed killer. Today, despite Bayer’s acquisition, this product has cost the company more than it had ever anticipated. In this article, we will discuss Monsanto’s Roundup disaster for which Bayer is still paying a heavy price.
A Fast-Growing Litigation and Voice of the Victims
Since the early years of its existence, Monsanto has had its eye fixated on synthetic chemicals. By 1933, the company had turned into the Monsanto Chemical Company. From what we have observed regarding man-made chemicals so far, it seldom has an expected end.
This means Monsanto’s fascination with chemicals was waiting to spell a disaster. The only thing people could never have imagined at the time was the scale at which the disaster would occur. By 1974, the company was ready to help farmers control invasive weeds.
Roundup or Glyphosate began selling commercially and soon cornered the market due to its effectiveness. What made it so special was the fact that it was a broad-spectrum weed killer that could tackle a variety of unwanted weeds.
According to the Center for Food Safety, nearly 285 million acres of US farmland were annually sprayed with Roundup. Naturally, the farmers were constantly exposed to the chemicals. Decades later, the effects began to flesh in the form of Celiac disease, liver failure, and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Given the severity of the injuries, a lawsuit was filed against Monsanto. Injured farmers began looking for the best lawyer for the Roundup lawsuit to represent their case. Even homeowners who had used Roundup for their backyard farming and developed the said conditions joined the consolidated litigation.
As per the updates shared by TorHoerman Law, the number of cases exceeded 100,000 as of July 2024.
Massive Settlements and an Existential Threat
The Roundup litigation against Monsanto/Bayer has been ongoing for a couple of years now. They have started reaching their settlement stages. In fact, around 100,000 lawsuits have already received a resolution.
This still only means that 80% of Roundup cases have been settled. Attorneys are still accepting new filings so this litigation may stay on the shelves for years. As of now, nearly 54,000 cases are still awaiting settlements.
To close the massive class-action multi-district litigation (MDL), Bayer had to pay a whopping $10 billion. A separate case extracted another $2.25 billion out of Bayer’s resources when the jury concluded that Roundup led to the plaintiff’s cancer.
The court even said that Monsanto failed to issue proper warnings to the public despite being aware of its product’s risks. This meant that Bayer was paying not only for Roundup-related injuries but also for Monsanto’s devious scheme of deceptive marketing.
The gravity of this precarious state is not lost on the company. In May 2024, Bayer’s CEO, Bill Anderson, stated that Roundup lawsuits have become an “existential threat.” On surface-level understanding, one would assume that Anderson is pointing toward his company (which is in troubled waters).
Additionally, he sees Roundup cases as an existential threat for farmers. If there are any clues one may pick from such a statement, it is surely Bayer’s attempts to continue supplying Roundup for commercial use. It also indicates that more suits would pile up across Federal courts.
Bayer’s Progress on Its Five-Point Plan
With the Roundup lawsuit numbers constantly rising, Bayer had set up a strategic five-point plan to bounce back. It included several tactics like managing current cases, seeking the Supreme Court’s positive ruling, and forming new US Lawn & Garden regulations.
In July 2024, the company updated its page stating that steady progress is being made on the five-point plan. In some cases, the fruits are visible since the jury reduced the damages from billions to millions. In others, the lot fell in the plaintiff’s favor.
There have also been dismissed cases withdrawn by the plaintiffs due to a string of motions filed by Bayer. So, it is all still a matter of trial and error for the defendant. Will any significant changes appear going forward? Only time will tell.
As we draw to a close, let’s compare Monsanto’s gross profits against Bayer’s losses. Over the decades that Roundup remained popular, the company drew billions in gross profits each year. Sometimes, Roundup alone accounted for up to 10% of Monsanto’s revenue.
As of May 2024, Bayer has set aside a total of $16 billion to close nearly 170,000 lawsuits. If it is true that its acquisition of Monsanto was to cover up the latter’s tainted past, the solution has failed.
If it was done to create the largest seed and agrochemical company, it all depends on whether Bayer will stand the test of time and legal justice. Perhaps the five-point plan is the hope upon which the company’s future rests.
