Bayer Served With Fresh Roundup Suit in Australia

   By Nathan Allen 
 

Bayer AG (BAYN.XE) faces a fresh lawsuit in Australia after a Victoria-based gardener filed papers alleging the company's Roundup weedkillers caused him to develop a type of lung cancer, the plaintiff's lawyers said Tuesday.

Carbone Lawyers, which is representing Michael Ogalirolo in the case, said the proceedings were the first of their kind in Australia. The law firm said Mr. Ogalirolo developed non-Hodgkin's lymphoma after being exposed to Bayer's glyphosate-based products for over 20 years as a self-employed landscape gardener.

Bayer said in a statement that it is aware of media reports regarding a lawsuit in Australia but it hadn't yet received any formal notification.

"We have great sympathy for any individual with cancer, but the extensive body of science on glyphosate-based herbicides over four decades supports the conclusion that Roundup does not cause non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma," the company said.

The German chemical group took over Roundup manufacturer Monsanto Co. and its associated legal liabilities in 2018 for $63 billion. It now faces around 13,400 claims for glyphosate damages in the U.S. and has already been ordered to pay billions of dollars to plaintiffs by juries in California.

Analysts expect the company to eventually reach an out-of-court settlement but have struggled to assess the scale of the total liabilities.

Write to Nathan Allen at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 04, 2019 09:19 ET (13:19 GMT)

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