Bayer said on March 20 that it is asking the Supreme Court to protect the principle that science-based federal regulation should not be overridden by state tort litigation.
The company’s request comes as the Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments in the Durnell case, one of more than 170,000 lawsuits related to Roundup herbicide. The outcome could have broad implications for federally regulated products and how state courts handle failure-to-warn claims.
Bayer stated in its brief that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the Roundup label without a cancer warning and that manufacturers cannot alter federal labels without agency approval. The Court will hear oral arguments April 27 and is expected to rule before June. A decision favoring preemption could limit state tort suits against all federally regulated products, according to Bayer.
The Durnell case is part of a larger legal battle involving settlements exceeding $11 billion. The Missouri Court of Appeals joined the Ninth and Eleventh federal circuits in ruling that federal pesticide law does not preempt state failure-to-warn claims on products carrying EPA-approved labels, according to the National Agricultural Law Center.
The Institute for Legal Reform reported that "the U.S. tort system cost $529 billion in 2022, or $4,207 per household, with costs growing 7.1% annually from 2016 to 2022. The preemption question before the Court applies broadly to federally regulated products, including vaccines protected under the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act of 1986."
Bayer AG, headquartered in Leverkusen, Germany, has divisions in pharmaceuticals, consumer health, and crop science. Bayer acquired Monsanto for $63 billion in 2018, inheriting the Roundup herbicide portfolio and the associated litigation, now totaling more than 170,000 claims, according to Bayer.
