In 2018, the German company Bayer acquired the American Monsanto for 63 billion dollars. Bayer already had a heavy criminal record, as the main company of the Nazi cartel IG Farben, which had manufactured the poisonous gas Zyklon B, used in the gas chambers of concentration/extermination camps. In 2018, this past was distant and had been forgotten – but with the acquisition of Monsanto, Bayer gained a new criminal record (and not only that). It is called Roundup.
The “success” of the carcinogenic herbicide of widespread use globally is known. Perhaps less known is the legal dimension of the issue: thousands of American farmers who used it and developed various cancers are seeking compensation. Not anymore from Monsanto, but from Bayer.
The German company has already paid $10 billion. And it still awaits another 67,000 claims and lawsuits! In the most recent ruling, a court in Missouri awarded $611 million to 3 individuals who had developed a type of lymphoma after prolonged use of the pesticide.
Bayer bought the profitable Roundup, but now risks sinking deeply because of it. Is it at risk? Perhaps not. If it manages to declare bankruptcy of its (subsidiary) Monsanto, the claims of the victims of the herbicide “freeze”: this is American “risk exit” legislation for deadly companies, mainly chemical and pharmaceutical.
Unless the “anti-German sentiment” of Washington takes precedence…