Agribusiness giant Bayer announced Wednesday that it reached a more than $10 billion deal to settle thousands of lawsuits that claimed exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup caused cancer. A statement from Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018—and thus inherited lawsuits targeting the widely used weedkiller—said the settlement affects “75% of the current Roundup litigation involving approximately 125,000 filed and unfiled claims overall.” Terms of the settlement include Bayer paying $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion to resolve the current lawsuits—”including an allowance expected to cover unresolved claims.” The deal also includes $1.25 billion to cover potential future settlements, the company said.
— source commondreams.org, reuters.com | Jun 24, 2020