US Supreme Court limits Roundup lawsuits by ruling that federal law preempts state failure-to-warn claims

The US Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that federal pesticide labeling law preempts state failure-to-warn claims against Monsanto, the maker of Roundup weedkiller. The decision overturns a $1.25 million jury verdict in favor of John Durnell, who alleged the herbicide caused his non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The ruling effectively blocks thousands of pending lawsuits against Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018, and sends Bayer shares up 18%. The majority opinion, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, held that the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) does not allow state courts to require cancer warnings that differ from EPA-approved labels. Liberal Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented, joined by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, arguing the ruling closes courthouse doors to state tort plaintiffs. The Trump administration backed Bayer in the case.