Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Judge Upholds Roundup Weed-Killer Verdict Against Monsanto, But Proposes Slashing Punitive Damages To $39M
Reuters: U.S. Judge Affirms Monsanto Weed-Killer Verdict, Slashes Damages
A U.S. judge on Monday affirmed a verdict against Bayer AG unit Monsanto that found its glyphosate-based weed-killers responsible for a man’s terminal cancer, sending the German company's shares down 8 percent. In a ruling by San Francisco's Superior Court of California, Judge Suzanne Bolanos said she would slash the punitive damages award to $39 million from $250 million if lawyers for school groundskeeper Dewayne Johnson agreed. (10/23)
The Associated Press: Judge Upholds Monsanto Verdict, Cuts Award To $78 Million
Monsanto spokesman Daniel Childs said that the company was pleased with the reduced reward but still planned to appeal the verdict. Childs said there’s no scientific proof linking Roundup to cancer. The jury awarded punitive damages after it found that the St. Louis-based agribusiness had purposely ignored warnings and evidence that its popular Roundup product causes cancer, including Johnson’s lymphoma. Punitive damages are designed to punish companies that juries determine have purposely misbehaved and to deter others from operating similarly. (Elias, 10/22)
The Wall Street Journal: Judge Reduces Jury Award Against Bayer’s Roundup To $78.5 Million
Bayer inherited thousands of Roundup-related lawsuits in its recently closed acquisition of Monsanto Co. and has worked to assuage investor concerns about potential liability from the litigation. The decision is the latest turn in the first Roundup case to go to trial, which resulted in an August verdict in favor of a groundskeeper who said prolonged use of glyphosate-based herbicides caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. (Randazzo and Bunge, 10/23)
