The Department of Justice has filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up pesticide manufacturer Bayer’s case Monsanto Company v. Durnell, angling for a ruling capable of blocking thousands of lawsuits brought by cancer patients who allege its Roundup product was to blame. Bayer bought Monsanto in 2018, and has since spent over $11 billion settling over 100,000 cancer lawsuits related to Roundup, whose active ingredient glyphosate is under investigation as a possible carcinogen.

The Trump Administration has repeatedly come under fire for its failure to take a hard-line stance on pesticides’ human health impacts; the recent “Make America Healthy Again” policy report avoided the issue of increased regulation altogether.

Food & Water Watch Staff Attorney Dani Replogle issued the following statement:

“The Trump Administration’s filing encourages the Supreme Court to slam judiciary doors in the faces of cancer patients across the country. No political posturing can undo the clear message this brief sends to sick Americans harmed by toxic pesticides: Trump has Bayer’s back, not theirs. Monsanto/Bayer’s push to silence cancer patients and keep the sick from pursuing justice is cruel — and Trump’s support is even more despicable.”

At issue in Monsanto Company v. Durnell is whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) preempts state laws that protect citizens when companies fail to provide adequate warnings about the harms their products may cause. If Bayer is successful, a Supreme Court ruling would have the same effect as the unpopular Cancer Gag Act Campaign.

Food & Water Watch research details Bayer’s multi-million dollar legislative push for the Cancer Gag Act. Introduced in twelve states to robust opposition this year, the bill would shield pesticide corporations from health related lawsuits.