In the recent lawsuit between Dewayne Johnson — a terminally ill non-Hodgkin lymphoma patient and school groundskeeper who filed a lawsuit after years of using Roundup weedkiller — and Monsanto, a San Francisco jury found in Mr. Johnson’s favor to the tune of a $289 million verdict against Monsanto.
This was a shock verdict to many, especially given the chemical giant’s well-known lobbying efforts. However, what has been lost in the shuffle recently is the fact that Monsanto was acquired for approximately $63 billion by Bayer just months ago. Before the acquisition, Bayer had been a German rival of Monsanto, a U.S. company.
Since Bayer is a German drug and chemical company, United States authorities required that these two businesses operate separately until the sale was finalized. Given the requirement to operate independently, this meant that Monsanto was still in charge of its legal strategies implemented in the high-profile Roundup cancer verdict delivered in early August of 2018.
As of mid-August, however, Bayer will now be able to receive internal information about Monsanto’s lawsuit, which has led to Bayer’s promise to become actively engaged in the legal defense of Monsanto and the nearly 5,000 lawsuits claiming that Roundup causes cancer.
Now That Bayer Is in the Process of Absorbing Monsanto, the German Giant Promises a Stronger Legal Defense
Bayer has publicly stated that it aims to drop the Monsanto name and it will “no longer be a company name.” That said, the products Bayer acquired through the acquisition, such as Roundup, will keep their brand names and continue to be sold, albeit as part of Bayer’s portfolio.
In addition to this rebranding effort that will do away with the Monsanto name, Bayer also publicly announced it gained access to the detailed internal information within Monsanto. With this newfound access after the sale’s completion, Bayer is now capable of providing their significant resources to contribute toward Monsanto’s legal defense.
Effectively, plaintiffs against Monsanto’s Roundup should now be aware that Bayer’s resources will now be added as the legal dispute continues. Bayer has also promised to appeal the $289 million verdict issued against Monsanto.
This does not mean, however, that Bayer faces anything but an uphill climb in its effort to prove Roundup (and the glyphosate herbicide) do not cause cancer. Monsanto, after all, previously failed to block the state of California’s inclusion of Roundup as a known carcinogen. Further, the California Supreme Court also chose to deny a hearing of Monsanto’s arguments for why Roundup did not belong on California’s list of known carcinogens.
Even so, Bayer is clearly announcing that it will not accept this verdict without appeal and a prolonged legal battle. At The Ledger Law Firm, we will continue monitoring this news in order to best represent plaintiffs who are in need of a California Roundup cancer lawyer.
Contact us online for a free case evaluation to speak with a Roundup cancer attorney if you believe that prolonged Roundup use caused your cancer diagnosis.
