Supreme Court Ruling Blocks Thousands of Lawsuits Against Roundup Maker

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in favor of Bayer, the company that makes Roundup weedkiller. The court said Bayer cannot be sued in state courts by people who claim Roundup gave them cancer. The ruling is expected to block thousands of lawsuits from people who say the company never warned them the product might be dangerous. Seven justices voted for the ruling and two voted against it.

Roundup is one of the most widely used weedkillers in the world. Its main ingredient is a chemical called glyphosate. For years, people have argued about whether glyphosate can cause cancer. The World Health Organization said in 2015 that it 'probably' causes cancer in humans. But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it is unlikely to cause cancer when used the right way.

Because the EPA approved a Roundup label without a cancer warning, Bayer argues it was simply following federal rules. The Supreme Court agreed, saying that since the federal government did not require a warning label, Bayer cannot be punished under state laws for not having one. This is called federal 'preemption,' which means federal rules take priority over state rules.

One of the people who sued Bayer was John Durnell, a man from Missouri. He used Roundup for more than 20 years while taking care of parks in his neighborhood. He later developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, which is a type of cancer. A jury had ruled in his favor and awarded him $1.25 million, but the Supreme Court's decision puts that kind of verdict in doubt for future cases.

Bayer called the ruling good news for science and farming. The company said the decision should help end nearly a decade of legal battles over Roundup. Even so, Bayer said it still plans to move forward with a $7.25 billion settlement to pay some of the people who filed claims. About 200,000 people have made Roundup-related claims against the company, most of them home users.

Not everyone is happy with the ruling. Attorney Christopher Seeger, who represents people in the settlement, said the court was wrong to block Americans from suing. He said some people would still be able to receive money through the proposed settlement, even if they can no longer take Bayer to state court. Other lawyers said the ruling might still allow lawsuits that claim the product was designed in a dangerous way, not just that it lacked a warning.

The ruling is also connected to politics. It is seen as a win for the Trump administration, but it creates some tension within the administration itself. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly said he believes glyphosate causes cancer. At the same time, he has supported an executive order meant to increase glyphosate production for food supply and national security reasons. Farming groups have warned that banning glyphosate could seriously hurt the nation's food supply. Bayer has already stopped using glyphosate in Roundup products sold in U.S. home and garden stores.