The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Thursday that plaintiffs could not sue Bayer under state laws, arguing that the company failed to warn about the cancer risks of the herbicide Roundup and its active ingredient glyphosate.
The verdict is a major victory for Bayer and the Trump administration. The government has previously proposed that claims against companies for failing to fulfill their risk warning obligations should be subject to priority jurisdiction under federal pesticide-related laws. The results also dealt a serious blow to the Make America Healthy Again movement. The group helped propel Trump back to the White House in the 2024 election but is now frustrated by the administration's endorsement of glyphosate, the most widely used chemical in agriculture and long mired in controversy over its carcinogens.
Monsanto Roundup herbicide for sale on a shelf in Encinitas, California, U.S., June 26, 2017.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the majority opinion, stating: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has determined that glyphosate is a safe substance when used in a regulated manner and does not require products to carry cancer warning labels. Therefore, the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act takes precedence over claims related to failure to fulfill risk warning obligations at the state level.
Kavanaugh wrote in the judgment: "This complete regulatory system can prove that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has multiple channels to collect and process various new safety risk information. From a legal perspective, state tort laws are not allowed to add or formulate differentiated product labeling requirements in addition to the federal regulatory requirements of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act."
Bayer congratulated the ruling on Thursday, saying the ruling "is beneficial to scientific development, agricultural practitioners, and can also protect various industries that rely on clear regulatory rules for innovation."
Bayer acquired Roundup manufacturer Monsanto in 2018. The company said in a statement: "This ruling will significantly curb the series of litigation disputes over Roundup that have lasted for nearly a decade. All current lawsuits based on the lack of risk warnings will be dismissed, and similar claims will not be initiated on this basis in the future."