Many cancer victims critical of settlement structure, vow to pursue jury trials.
DALLAS – More than 40,000 current claims on behalf of individuals diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma after exposure to the Bayer Monsanto Roundup herbicide remain unresolved as criticism mounts that a proposed settlement framework is inconsistent and unfair to cancer victims.
Plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation (MDL) against Roundup maker Bayer AG (OTCMKTS: BAYRY) increasingly see a jury trial as the only avenue for justice, said trial lawyer Majed Nachawati of Dallas-based Fears Nachawati Law Firm.
The Fears Nachawati Law Firm has filed motions on behalf of clients with non-Hodgkins lymphoma seeking to throw out a proposed settlement to the MDL, which would allow Roundup maker Bayer AG to continue selling the glyphosate-based herbicide while shielding it from future cancer lawsuits.
“This proposed settlement has been fatally flawed from the beginning,” Mr. Nachawati said. “Bayer shareholders would like to put this significant exposure behind them, however Bayer’s strategy will only ensure that jury trials will take place for years to come.”
Rather than resolving all the lawsuits together, the proposed settlement allows Bayer’s lawyers to negotiate separately with one law firm at a time. According to published reports, law firms that were part of the MDL leadership committee were among the first to settle and reached agreements that are more than twice the amount the remaining cancer claims are being offered.
Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, has been linked in published reports to the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other forms of cancer. Juries in three separate trials heard the evidence and returned multimillion-dollar verdicts against Bayer AG, which acquired Roundup-maker Monsanto in 2018.
The multidistrict litigation (MDL) is In re: Bayer Roundup Products Liability Litigation, case number 3:16-md-02741, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.