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Bayer sets aside another 4.5 billion for glyphosate lawsuits

2021-07-29T14:53:56.827Z


The Bayer Group has been trying to end the glyphosate dispute for years - now the company is investing billions of dollars more to prepare for future claims from US plaintiffs.


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Logo of the Bayer Group: The anger about glyphosate does not stop

Photo: Jens Krick;

/ imago images / Future Image

The pharmaceutical and agrochemical company Bayer is putting aside billions for the already expensive glyphosate litigation in the USA.

An additional provision of gross US $ 4.5 billion before tax and discounting will be formed for the second quarter of 2021.

One wants to "map possible long-term risks", so the reasoning of the group for the billions provision. It is possible that the highest US court, the Supreme Court, will not accept a potentially groundbreaking case at all - or judge in the interests of the plaintiff. In this case, the group wants to set up its own program to deal with further lawsuits in the glyphosate case. Nonetheless, the group was confident that the Supreme Court would come up with a verdict that would be beneficial for the company.

CEO Werner Baumann has high hopes for the decision of the US Supreme Court. It is about the case of the plaintiff Edwin Hardeman, who blames glyphosate for his cancer. He has already been awarded a total of around $ 25 million in damages. Bayer has appealed the ruling several times and plans to submit its request to review the Hardeman case before the Supreme Court in August, with a final decision expected to be in 2022. The Leverkusen-based company expects a positive judgment for Bayer to send a signal.

So far, only three cases have been heard in courts; the Dax group has lost all three.

The glyphosate problem, which was taken over with the purchase of the US company Monsanto, is making the group difficult.

In the United States, over 125,000 plaintiffs had filed claims for damages.

Bayer's management is trying to put an end to the billions in litigation over the weed killer.

In a comprehensive comparison, the handling of existing lawsuits was regulated, of which, according to information from May, 96,000 cases have finally been settled.

On the other hand, the handling of future lawsuits is still open.

Bayer recently presented a five-point plan for this after a judge rejected previous proposals for a solution.

All in all, Bayer had earmarked more than $ 11 billion for the entire package, to which a further $ 4.5 billion has now been added.

mic / dpa-afx

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-07-29

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