Bayer purchased Monsanto in 2018 and maintains that Roundup is safe for human use. Bayer was found liable for not informing plaintiffs of the potential dangers of using the Roundup, along with claims of negligence and design defects.

The verdict was the fourth straight loss in court for Bayer, which has recently doled out more than $500 million in the previous three litigation losses. The company had been found not liable to plaintiffs in nine consecutive trials before that. In 2020, Bayer settled most of the then-pending Roundup cases for up to $10.9 billion. 

.Bayer was ordered to pay $1.56 billion to four plaintiffs after a Missouri judge ruled that the company's Roundup weedkiller caused cancer.

A Cole County, Mo., jury found on Friday that Bayer's Monsanto business was liable for claims of negligence, design defects and failing to warn plaintiffs of the potential dangers of using Roundup, according to court documents.

Valorie Gunther of New York, Jimmy Draeger of Missouri and Daniel Anderson of California were awarded a combined $61.1 million in compensatory damages and $500 million each in punitive damages.

Each of the plaintiffs was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma that they alleged was caused by using Roundup on their family property.

Draeger's wife, Brenda, was also awarded $100,000 for the harm she allegedly suffered from her husband's disease.

The plaintiffs argued that exposure to the glyphosate in Roundup caused the cancer, which typically starts in white blood cells and causes symptoms including enlarged lymph nodes, fatigue, dramatic weight loss, trouble breathing and night sweats, according to the Mayo Clinic.