By Sara Randazzo and Ruth Bender
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (March 20, 2019).
SAN FRANCISCO -- A jury found that a man developed cancer from
exposure to Roundup weedkiller he used in his yard, in the second
case to go to trial over the alleged harms of the popular Bayer AG
product.
The six-person jury in U.S. District Court in San Francisco now
is set to begin hearing evidence to separately weigh whether
Bayer's Monsanto unit should be held liable, a decision that could
bring substantial financial damages against the company.
The verdict issued Tuesday marks another setback for Bayer,
which has come under intense pressure since a jury in August
reached a $289.2 million verdict in the first case over the
weedkiller to go to trial. That decision, which sent Bayer shares
down sharply, came soon after the German company completed its
acquisition of Monsanto Co.
Bayer has appealed that verdict, which the trial judge cut down
to $78.5 million.
Tuesday's verdict is likely to keep the heat on Bayer's share
price, which hasn't recovered from its August drop.
Analysts and investors had seen Bayer at an advantage in this
second trial after U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria agreed to
split the evidence into two phases, with the first focusing solely
on whether Roundup and its active ingredient, glyphosate, are
carcinogenic. In the first phase, jurors didn't hear allegations
that the company hid dangers about its product from the public.
Bayer faces lawsuits in the U.S. from about 11,200 farmers, home
gardeners and landscapers claiming its glyphosate-based herbicides
cause non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other cancers. Six more trials are
due to start this year in federal and state courts.
Bayer said Tuesday that it is disappointed with the jury's
decision but "we continue to believe firmly that the science
confirms that glyphosate-based herbicides do not cause cancer" and
that the second phase of the trial "will show that Monsanto's
conduct has been appropriate."
Aimee Wagstaff and Jennifer Moore, attorneys for plaintiff Edwin
Hardeman, said their client is pleased with the jury's unanimous
decision. "Now we can focus on the evidence that Monsanto has not
taken a responsible, objective approach to the safety of Roundup,"
they said.
During the nine days of trial, ending Tuesday of last week, the
San Francisco jury heard competing scientific evidence over whether
Roundup has been shown to cause cancer.
Mr. Hardeman's attorneys said he developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma
after 26 years of regularly using Roundup to control weeds and
poison oak on his rural properties in Northern California.
"We've showed you the evidence that Monsanto refuses to
analyze," Ms. Wagstaff told jurors during closing arguments. She
argued that Monsanto disregards studies on animals and cell
structures that, along with studies of human populations, prove
Roundup's dangers.
"Do not ignore the data that Monsanto is asking you to ignore,"
Ms. Wagstaff said.
Bayer attorney Brian Stekloff countered in his closing remarks
that the science jurors were shown by the plaintiff's attorneys was
made for court and that the expert witnesses aren't warning anyone
about the alleged harms of Roundup in their day jobs. "They're
telling you, real-world medical practice doesn't matter," he said
of the plaintiff's position.
The jury deliberated over parts of five days, at one point
asking to rehear testimony from Mr. Hardeman, before reaching its
decision that a preponderance of evidence showed that Roundup
exposure was a "substantial factor" in causing his cancer.
Bayer argues that some 800 studies and regulatory decisions
across the globe assert that glyphosate is safe and not
carcinogenic. Bayer Chief Executive Werner Baumann said last month
that the two-phase trial would allow Bayer to put a strong focus on
scientific data that confirm the product's safety.
In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a
World Health Organization branch, designated glyphosate as probably
carcinogenic to humans. That kicked off a wave of litigation and
regulatory scrutiny around the world.
Ahead of the first trial, also in San Francisco, attorneys for
plaintiff Dewayne Johnson, a former school groundskeeper, released
internal Monsanto emails they said showed the company's
inappropriate role in shaping studies on glyphosate. Bayer argues
those emails were taken out of context.
Lawyers for Mr. Johnson argued in court that Monsanto knew the
testing of glyphosate was insufficient and that employees
ghostwrote favorable scientific articles and paid outside
scientists to publish the articles under their names. The jury in
California state court found Monsanto knew or should have known of
potential risks and failed to warn consumers.
The latest trial will now move into the second phase, probing
Monsanto's conduct and whether it was negligent.
Drawing the line on what evidence could be presented in the
first phase prompted clashes in court, including $500 sanctions
against the lead plaintiff's lawyer for what the judge called
obvious violations of his orders on what jurors could see.
Mr. Hardeman's case is the first of three bellwether trials
scheduled to take place in federal court to help assess the claims.
Hundreds of federal cases have been consolidated in front of Judge
Chhabria.
Mr. Baumann, Bayer's CEO, cautioned in February that the
glyphosate legal fight was "only at the beginning." Analysts say
they will need to see at least a handful of verdicts before they
can make more precise estimates of the potential liabilities for
Bayer. Until that happens, shares are likely to remain depressed,
they say.
Tuesday's verdict surprised Jonas Oxgaard, an analyst at Sanford
C. Bernstein & Co. who follows the chemical and agricultural
industries. "I genuinely thought with the first stage here focusing
on the science, that [Bayer] would win," he said. "On the other
hand, it's a San Francisco jury."
While Bernstein analysts viewed the scientific evidence as
weighing in Bayer's favor, they have estimated settling the
litigation could cost the company up to $5 billion.
Bayer said it intends to continue contesting the
allegations.
--Jacob Bunge contributed to this article.
Write to Sara Randazzo at sara.randazzo@wsj.com and Ruth Bender
at Ruth.Bender@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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