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 The government said in a friend of the court brief filed on Friday
that glyphosate, the weed killer's active ingredient, is not a
carcinogen and as a result a warning on the label was not required
as California state law demands.
The backing by the EPA and Justice Department comes days after Bayer
asked a U.S. federal appeals court to throw out a $25 million
judgment it was ordered to pay Edwin Hardeman. Bayer had denied its
Roundup weed killer causes cancer.
In April, the EPA reaffirmed that glyphosate does not cause cancer.
Farmers spray glyphosate, the most widely used herbicide in U.S.
agriculture, on fields of soybeans and other crops that are
genetically engineered to resist it. Roundup is also used by
consumers on lawns, golf courses and elsewhere.
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Hardeman's lawyers previously accused Roundup maker Monsanto, which
Bayer acquired last year in a $63 billion deal, of having failed to
warn consumers about the herbicide's cancer risk. Bayer stock has
lost about 23% in value since the first Roundup verdict for
plaintiffs in August 2018.
Bayer argued it would be impossible to comply with the Hardeman
verdict, a lawsuit brought under state law, because any warning
label would be in conflict with guidance from a federal agency.
The EPA and Justice Department agreed in their Friday filing. "It is
unlawful for manufacturers and sellers to make claims on their
labels that differ from what EPA approves," the U.S. government
said.
(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath and Ben Klayman; Editing by Leslie
Adler)
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