BERLIN (AP) – Germany’s Bayer AG, which bought Monsanto Co. last year, is underlining its determination to fight cases involving the U.S. company’s Roundup weed-killer in the face of more than 11,000 lawsuits so far.
In August, a San Francisco jury awarded a man $289 million after determining Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. A judge later slashed the award to $78 million, and Monsanto has appealed. A second case in which a man claims the weed-killer caused cancer went to trial this week.
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann said as he presented the company’s annual earnings Wednesday that, as of Jan. 28, 11,200 lawsuits had been filed. He said that “we will continue to defend ourselves resolutely in all proceedings.”
He stressed that the active ingredient in Roundup, glyphosate, “is a safe product.”
