North Dakota Limits Roundup Lawsuits — Will Other States Follow?
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It may be getting more difficult for Roundup lawsuits to move forward. Last week, North Dakota became the first state to sign a law that will shield pesticide manufacturers from the failure-to-warn claims at the heart of these cases.
Tens of thousands of people have claimed that they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma after exposure to the popular weed killer. Roundup’s main ingredient has been identified as a probable carcinogen for years.
In North Dakota, these claims may no longer be able to move forward. While the World Health Organization sees Roundup as a likely carcinogen, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the United States says that the pesticide is safe.
North Dakota’s new law deems any warning label approved by the EPA as sufficient in the state. Going forward, lawsuits claiming the makers of Roundup failed to warn of cancer risks may not have the same success in the state.
Are Laws That Affect Roundup Litigation Coming in Other States?
The initial impact of the new law on the overall Roundup litigation will likely be very small. North Dakota is one of the least populous states in the United States, and Roundup lawsuits are pending in both federal and state courts across the country.
But similar legislation is on the table throughout the nation. Bills that could protect pesticide manufacturers from litigation have been introduced in at least 11 states.
This includes larger states like Florida, Georgia and Tennessee, along with farming hotbeds like Iowa and Oklahoma. Bayer, which purchased Roundup manufacturer Monsanto in 2018, has heavily lobbied for these bills to be passed to limit its liability.
But that does not guarantee nationwide limits on Roundup lawsuits. Bills have already failed in five of these states, including two of North Dakota’s neighbors, Montana and Wyoming. Just this month, Iowa’s House Speaker also declined to advance that state’s version of the bill.
A pesticide-shielding bill has passed in Georgia but has not yet been signed by the governor.
As Roundup Lawsuits Continue, Bayer Looks to Supreme Court for Resolution
The shielding laws pending across the nation are just one of several strategies Bayer is employing in an attempt to move past the sprawling litigation.
The company agreed to a $10 billion settlement in 2020 and has also suffered defeats in individual trials. Just last month, a Georgia jury awarded nearly $2.1 billion to a man who developed cancer after being exposed to the weed killer.
Bayer is hoping that a resolution may come in the form of a U.S. Supreme Court decision. The company recently announced that it has filed a petition for the court to review a Roundup case.
It is unclear how the Supreme Court could lean on a Roundup decision. Similar cases have gone before three different circuit courts with different outcomes.