Wednesday 18 / February / 2026
Agrichemical company Bayer and attorneys for cancer patients have announced a proposed $7.25 billion (€6.1 billion) nationwide settlement to resolve thousands of US lawsuits.
The Germany-based company faces claims over Roundup from approximately 65,000 plaintiffs in US state and federal courts.
The lawsuits allege Bayer failed to warn people that glyphosate, the key ingredient of its popular weedkiller Roundup, causes cancer.
The plaintiffs say they developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other forms of cancer after using the weedkiller, either at home or on the job.
The proposed settlement announced on Tuesday calls for Bayer to make annual payments into a special fund for up to 21 years, totaling as much as $7.25 billion.
The amount of money paid out to individuals would vary depending on how they used Roundup, how old they were when diagnosed and the severity of their non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Bayer doesn't admit liability with Roundup settlement
Bayer says decades of studies have shown Roundup's active ingredient, glyphosate, is safe for human use.
The settlement doesn't require Bayer to admit liability or wrongdoing.
It also needs a minimum number of plaintiffs to opt in. If too many plaintiffs opt out of the proposed settlement, Bayer said it reserves the right to cancel it.
The settlement still needs the approval of the St. Louis Circuit Court in Missouri where it was filed.
"Litigation uncertainty has plagued the company for years, and this settlement gives the company a road to closure," Bayer CEO Bill Anderson said on Tuesday.
What are the Roundup lawsuits against Bayer?
Bayer acquired Roundup as part of its $63 billion purchase of US agrochemical company Monsanto in 2018.
The company had previously paid about $10 billion to settle most of the Roundup lawsuits that were pending as of 2020.
But it failed back then to get a settlement covering future cases.
It has had a mixed record with cases that have gone to trial, with 13 verdicts in Bayer's favor and 11 for plaintiffs, including a $2.1 billion award by a Georgia jury in 2025. That case is now under appeal.
The newly proposed nationwide settlement is designed to address most of the remaining 65,000 lawsuits, as well as any additional cases brought in the coming years by people who were exposed to Roundup before Tuesday.
Supreme Court case could limit Bayer's liability in litigation
Tuesday's proposed settlement comes after the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal in a case that could sharply limit Bayer's liability in lawsuits over its Roundup weedkiller.
Currently in the United States, federal law sets national standards for pesticide approval, but these don't override the public safety powers of individual states.
That means that even though glyphosate was approved by the federal regulator, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), people can still sue under state law if they believe Bayer's labeling is misleading.
The federally approved label for Roundup includes no warning of cancer.
However, Bayer will argue before the Supreme Court in April that federal law doesn't allow it to add any warning to the product beyond the EPA-approved label.
As it is unable to adopt additional labeling, Bayer argues, it can't be sued in failure-to-warn lawsuits brought under state laws.
A favorable ruling in the Supreme Court would wipe out several large verdicts that remain on appeal.
It could also prevent future claims from individuals who choose to opt out of Tuesday's nationwide settlement.
The Supreme Court ruling would have no effect on Tuesday's proposed settlement if it were approved.
