Supreme Court sides with Monsanto in case over cancer risks from weedkiller

Washington — The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that Monsanto cannot be held liable under state laws for failing to warn consumers about the alleged cancer risks of its weedkiller Roundup on its label.

In a 7-2 decision in the case Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, the high court found that a federal law regulating the sale and labeling of pesticide products bars lawsuits in state courts alleging that Monsanto failed to include a cancer warning on Roundup’s labels.

Federal law requires Monsanto to use an EPA-approved label, which does not have a cancer warning, unless the EPA approves or requires a different label, the court wrote in its opinion.

The decision was delivered by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who was joined in the majority opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts as well as justices Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Amy Coney Barrett and Clarence Thomas. Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Neil Gorsuch dissented. 

Thousands of other lawsuits have been filed against Monsanto in recent years by Roundup users who have said the herbicide caused them to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.

Bayer, a German pharmaceuticals company that bought Monsanto in 2018, announced in February that it proposed a $7.25 billion class settlement to resolve current and future claims related to Roundup’s use. The proposed settlement is now before a Missouri state court. If the plan gets a green light, Monsanto would make annual payments for up to 21 years.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.