The jury awarded $332 million to a California man suing chemical giant Monsanto Co., contending that his cancer was caused by decades of using Roundup weed killer.
An award of damages was given Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by Mike Dennis, 57, of Carlsbad, who was diagnosed in 2020 with a rare form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, was alleged to be responsible for his illness in his lawsuit.
Adam Peavy, one of Dennis' attorneys, told KNSD-TV that Dennis has had treatment and been in remission for nearly three years, but there is no cure.
His doctors have told him it will come back, so we're just waiting to see," Peavy said.
Jurors found that Monsanto, which is now part of Bayer's pharmaceutical division, failed to warn of Roundup's risks. But jurors also ruled partially in Bayer's favor, finding the product design wasn't defective.
The jury awarded Dennis $7 million in compensatory damages and $325 million in punitive damages.
According to KNSD-TV, Bayer believes it has strong arguments on appeal to get the unfounded verdict overturned and the unconstitutionally excessive damage award reduced or eliminated.
During this trial, there were significant and reversible legal and evidentiary errors, Bayer said.
In 2020, Bayer announced it would pay up to $10.9 billion to settle some 125,000 filed and unfiled claims related to Roundup. Bayer acquired Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018 and is attempting to deal with thousands of claims and lawsuits.