Bayer’s full court press to end glyphosate lawsuits heats up.  The pharmceutical giant has asked the Supreme Court to step in.
by Dave Dickey, Columnist
May 7, 2025

Up to now there has been one colossal failure after another in Bayer AG’s efforts to end all lawsuits claiming glyphosate — the active ingredient in the company’s weedkiller Roundup — can cause cancer, primarily non-hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Plaintiffs in state courts all across America cite a 2015 International Agency for Research on Cancer study that found glyphosate was “probably carcinogenic to humans.”

Bayer vehemently disagrees. And in 2019, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a ruling that said the study was “a false claim that does not meet the labeling requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act,” and that it “will no longer approve product labels claiming glyphosate is known to cause cancer.”

That hasn’t stopped Roundup lawsuits. No siree.

That’s because FIFRA prohibits the sale of any pesticide that is “misbranded.” Under FIFRA, misbranded warning labels fail to contain a warning or caution statement that may be necessary to protect health and environment.

Plaintiffs argue in state courts that Bayer and the EPA’s failure to warn about the potential cancer risks on Roundup labels amounts to FIFRA defined misbranding.

And up until recently, the courts have agreed with that assessment.

In 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Hardeman v. Monsanto found the glyphosate label misbranded.

Bayer had no luck pressing its case last year before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals either. In John Carson v. Monsanto, the court ruled for the plaintiff, concluding “that FIFRA does not expressly preempt Carson’s failure-to-warn claim.”

Bayer has paid out approximately $11 billion to settle glyphosate lawsuits. Bayer estimates there are still 67,000 active lawsuits. Obviously, much hinges on whether the Supreme Court grants cert. Certainly frustration is mounting among the Bayer brass. The Wall Street Journal reports Bayer may stop producing Roundup unless it gets court protection.

Bayer Chief Executive Officer Bill Anderson’s patience is wearing thin: “We’re pretty much reaching the end of the road. We’re talking months, not years.”

In March, Bayer announced plans to internally separate the glyphosate business from the rest of its crop protection division. Should the courts fail to intervene on Bayer’s behalf that might be a first step toward Bayer attempting to sell off its glyphosate business.

Rodrigo Santos, head of Bayer’s crop science division, didn’t flat out deny the possibility for a sale: “We’re going to continue to discuss in the future, evaluating all the alternatives that we have for the business. That’s always what we do.”

The writing is on the wall. Bayer earned $2.8 billion last year from glyphosate sales. Anderson says Bayer is barely breaking even on sales, and litigation is costing the company up to $3 billion a year.

That’s not sustainable, even for pharmaceutical giants. Something’s got to give.