FRANKFURT, Germany (AFP) — German chemicals and pharmaceutical giant Bayer has settled a court case involving its weed-killer Roundup, a flagship product of its U.S. subsidiary Monsanto, a spokesman said Tuesday.
"The matter has been settled to the satisfaction of all parties" pending court approval, a Bayer spokesman told AFP.
Plaintiffs accused the company of covering up health risks related to Roundup's active ingredient glyphosate after its 2018 takeover of Monsanto.
The company did not confirm a Bloomberg News report citing Kansas City court documents that the settlement would total $39.6 million.
The Leverkusen-based group also agreed to change some elements of the label on Roundup, Bloomberg reported.
A judge must sign off on the accord the company reached with the plaintiffs, which is separate from a wave of more than 48,000 lawsuits over cancers allegedly caused by glyphosate.
Talks on an out-of-court settlement for those cases have been going on for months and so far Bayer has given no sign a deal is near.
In the settlement talks led by U.S. lawyer Ken Feinberg, Bayer could accept a total payout of around $10 billion, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The group lost its first three Roundup court cases in the United States, with juries ordering massive payouts to plaintiffs that were later reduced by judges.
Bayer and Monsanto continue to insist that the science backs its position that glyphosate poses no risk to human health, with regulators around the globe certifying it safe if used as intended.
© Agence France-Presse
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