Asbestos Injury

RoundUp Compensation Settlement of $10.9bn Agreed

Posted: June 25th, 2020

On Wednesday German drugs and pesticides producer Bayer, agreed to settle thousands of US-based legal actions taken in connection with users of weedkiller RoundUp developing cancer, for $10.9bn.

This move comes follow year-long extensive talks.

The legal action submitted claimed that RoundUp caused the development of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and other cancers in some users. Bayer has always dismissed allegations that RoundUp or its active ingredient glyphosate can lead to the development of cancer. This dismissal was based on numerous independent studies showing that the weedkiller is safe for human use.

When it purchased Monsanto in 2018, Bayer took over responsibility for the claims. This settlement does not include three cases that have already gone to trial. Shareholders in the group gave their approval to how the claims were being handled in April.

Bayer chief executive Werner Baumann released a statement which said: “The Roundup settlement is the right action at the right time for Bayer to bring a long period of uncertainty to an end. It is financially reasonable when viewed against the significant financial risks of continued, multiyear litigation and the related impacts to our reputation and to our business. The decision to resolve the Roundup litigation enables us to focus fully on the critical supply of healthcare and food. It will also return the conversation about the safety and utility of glyphosate-based herbicides to the scientific and regulatory arena and to the full body of science.”

A statement was also released by settlement mediator Ken Feinberg confirming some 25,000 claims remain unsettled. He said: “Bayer wisely decided to settle the litigation rather than roll the dice in American court.”

He added: “I predict all the remaining cases will settle within a few months. People are going to want their share of this settlement.”

$5bn of the settlement must be paid this year and the same figure is due to be transferred to claimants during 2021.

Bayer is believed to be funding the settlement thanks to the the company’s existing free cash flow and the proceeds of the recent sale of its Animal Health portfolio. There were almost 125,000 filed and unfiled claims. The agreed settlement makes up approximately 75% of the claims linked to RoundUp.

Compensation Claims Against the State Up by Almost a Fifth

Posted: October 21st, 2017

Inquest Rules Worker Died from Asbestos-Induced Cancer

Posted: December 9th, 2014

An investigation into the death of a man has revealed that his mesothelioma cancer was the result of exposure to asbestos as a teenager.

In September 2013, sixty-five year-old Charlie Glass passed away at St Vincent’s Hospital. Four years earlier, Charlie – from Ballinteer in Dublin – had been diagnosed with mesothelioma cancer, the cause of his death.

The diagnosis came after an accident in Charlie’s workplace, where he had fallen and damaged his ribs. He was then taken to the VHI Swiftcare Clinic. There, an X-ray showed that he had excess fluid on his lungs. Once this had been drained, a CT scan showed that Charlie had mesothelioma cancer.

Due to the nature of the cancer, Charlie travelled to London for chemotherapy and surgery. His cancer was then in remission, and Charlie had a few years of good health before his cancer returned. From there, his condition worsened.

When Charlie was discussing his illness with his doctor, it came up that as a teenager, Charlie had a job cutting asbestos sheets to be used to fireproof doors at the Brook Thomas Building Suppliers. However, Charlie had not been provided with any protective equipment as the dangers associated with asbestos were not well known when Charlie was a teenager. Additionally, Charlie and his colleagues often ate lunch in the same place where asbestos were being handled.

Dr Brian Farrell, the Coroner for Dublin, was informed at an inquest into Charlie’s death that when he was first diagnosed, he had been given a prognosis of less that a year to live. However, he had lived for four more years after that. At the inquest, it was also shown that both of Charlie’s siblings had died because of asbestos-related cancer. However, their contact with asbestos was not related to Charlie’s.

The autopsy showed that Charlie’s lungs had “numerous asbestos bodies”, which confirmed that he was suffering from disseminated mesothelioma. After all of the evidence, Dr Farrell ruled that Charlie had died because of asbestos-related cancer. He also expressed regret that all of the Glass siblings died from what could be considered a rare disease.