BAYN Bayer AG

By Matt Grossman

Bayer AG has lost an appeal of a California jury verdict that tied the use of its Roundup weedkiller to cancer, a setback for the German chemicals company as it plans to bring its defense of the product to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Monday, an appeals court in California upheld the jury's verdict in a case brought by a husband and wife who both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after years of using Roundup on their property. The couple, Alberta and Alva Pilliod, had been awarded about $86 million in damages.

The case is one of a handful in which state-court juries have found that Roundup contributed to a user's cancer diagnosis. Bayer inherited the Roundup weedkiller brand as part of its 2018 acquisition of Monsanto. The company says that the compound at issue in the Roundup litigation, glyphosate, is safe, and it continues to sell weedkiller that includes the chemical.

A spokeswoman for Bayer didn't immediately respond to an inquiry.

Last month, Bayer said it is setting aside an additional $4.5 billion to cover expenses arising from Roundup litigation. Those funds add to the $11.6 billion Bayer had previously said it could pay.

Bayer has also said it will appeal a case similar to the Pilliods' to the U.S. Supreme Court this month.

In part, Bayer has argued in the cases that state-court jury verdicts should be preempted by federal law, because the federal Environmental Protection Agency has said that glyphosate doesn't pose a health risk.

Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 10, 2021 06:53 ET (10:53 GMT)

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