The Supreme Court has ruled that federal law protects Monsanto Co. from state-level lawsuits claiming the company failed to warn consumers that its weed killer, Roundup, could cause cancer. In a 7-2 decision, the court overturned a Missouri appellate ruling that had affirmed a jury’s award of more than $1 million to John L. Durnell, who sued Monsanto in 2019 alleging that his use of Roundup over a 20-year period caused him to develop non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer.
Federal Law and Pesticide Labeling
The decision centers on the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), a federal statute governing how pesticides are registered, packaged, and labeled in the United States. Under current federal regulations, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews pesticide formulas and must approve all product labels before a company can sell them. The EPA has repeatedly evaluated glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup, and concluded that it is not likely to cause cancer in humans. Because of this assessment, the federal agency does not require or permit a cancer warning on Roundup packaging.
Justice Brett Kavanaugh delivered the opinion of the court, joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Amy Coney Barrett. Kavanaugh wrote that FIFRA contains a specific provision meant to ensure national uniformity in pesticide packaging, which prohibits states from imposing labeling requirements that are “in addition to or different from” federal standards.
Implications and Dissent
The majority emphasized that allowing individual states to mandate unique safety warnings through court injury claims would dismantle the nationwide standard established by Congress and enforced by the EPA. Justice Thomas filed a separate concurring opinion, questioning whether the underlying federal law stretches beyond constitutional boundaries. Justices Jackson and Gorsuch dissented from the ruling, arguing that state common-law injury suits do not conflict with federal law but rather reinforce it.
Original reporting: Tampa Free Press — read the source article.
