A Pennsylvania jury has awarded $78 million to William Melissen, who claims his cancer was caused by Bayer’s Roundup weedkiller. The verdict includes $3 million in compensatory damages and $75 million in punitive damages, marking a shift in Bayer’s legal battles after winning 14 of its last 20 Roundup trials.

Melissen, diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2020, alleges his condition resulted from long-term exposure to glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, which he used from 1992. Bayer disputes the verdict, maintaining that scientific evidence supports the safety of glyphosate and plans to appeal the punitive damages ruling.

This case adds to Bayer's mounting legal challenges, with the company currently facing about 58,000 claims linked to Roundup, which it acquired in its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto in 2018.