Published October 5, 2026
A jury in St. Louis is hearing the first Roundup cancer trial since the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Bayer in June. Opening statements began September 29, 2026, in a Missouri state court case brought by three women who used the weedkiller regularly and later developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, according to Reuters and other reports.
The plaintiffs are Theresa Aretino, Cynthia Fernandez, and Betty Larkin. Fernandez died before trial, and her claims are proceeding on her behalf. None of the three is part of Bayer's proposed class settlement. Their lawyers argue that Monsanto, the Bayer unit that makes Roundup, did not adequately test the product before selling it and that Roundup was defectively designed and too dangerous to be sold.
Bayer maintains that decades of research show glyphosate, Roundup's active ingredient, is safe and does not cause cancer. It also argues that the Supreme Court's decision rules out design-defect claims like these.
The Supreme Court's 7-2 ruling on June 25, 2026, in Monsanto v. Durnell held that federal pesticide law blocks state-law claims that Roundup's label should have carried a cancer warning (see our coverage of the ruling). Failure-to-warn claims had been the backbone of most Roundup lawsuits. This trial is focused on design defect and testing instead, theories the Supreme Court did not directly address. The verdict will offer an early read on whether those claims can still win in front of a jury.
The trial is happening while Bayer's proposed $7.25 billion class settlement, which aims to resolve current and future Roundup claims, waits on a decision. Missouri Judge Timothy Boyer held the final approval hearing on September 14 and had not ruled as of early October. Objecting law firms argue the payouts undervalue claims. Roughly 65,000 Roundup cases remain pending in U.S. courts.
If you or a family member were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma after regular Roundup exposure, see Atumio's Roundup case page for a free eligibility review, or start your case review directly.