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[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

Bayer Stock Crashes After Monsanto Cancer Verdict Upheld By Judge; Analyst
Estimates $800 Billion In Future Liability - Prepare For Change
https://prepareforchange.net/2018/10/23/bayer-stock-crashes-after-monsanto-cancer-verdict-upheld-by-judge-analyst-estimates-800-billion-in-future-liability/?fbclid=IwAR3xTIPUx4ecmqtbC71zIb8SoIGMfvCj5JeGFEq0BQzXiMnOv8oHKLYRhhc

*Growing uncertainty* about whether San Francisco Superior Court Judge
Suzanne Ramos Bolanos would rule in favor or against Bayer’s appeal of the
Monsanto Cancer Verdict were resolved Tuesday morning as the judge upheld
the jury’s decision that the glyphosate-based weedkiller (aka Roundup) sold
by Monsanto caused a California man’s terminal cancer and that Monsanto
intentionally hid its dangers.

The news quickly spread and caused an immediate crash in Bayer’s stock
value, sending a powerful message to the Agrochemical industry that they
are legally and financially responsible for the adverse effects caused by
their unscrupulously marketed products despite receiving a regulatory pass
from government agencies like the EPA, USDA, and FDA that have
traditionally acted as *industry cheerleaders*.

The judge decided to reduce the punitive damage award from the original
total of *$289 million following a verdict reached earlier this summer*,
down to $78.5 million. A decision which concerned jurors who decided on the
higher award amount in order to send a clear message to Monsanto that they
deserve to be punished for covering up the dangers of their herbicide.

The good news is that this ruling affirms the company’s liability for
causing illness from their product, and opens the door for more lawsuits
and stricter regulation of agrochemicals in the future. Ian Hilliker, an
analyst at Jefferies LLC in London, estimated in a note to clients that
based on a class action lawsuit involving 8,700 plaintiffs believed to have
cancer as a result of glyphosate exposure, Monsanto’s liability could reach
$800 billion dollars. To put this in perspective, the original
Bayer-Monsanto buyout offer was $57 billion dollars. Clearly, this no
longer looks like an “asset” to Bayer and its stockholders.