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A California judge on Thursday reduced a $2 billion jury verdict, slashing the award for a couple who blamed Bayer AG's glyphosate-based weed killer Roundup for their cancer to $86.7 million. Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith of the California Superior Court in Oakland said the jury's billion-dollar punitive damages awards were excessive and unconstitutional, but rejected Bayer's request to strike the punitive award outright. (7/26)

Last week, a federal judge in San Francisco reduced a more than $80 million verdict to $25.3 million in the case of a Northern California resident with similar allegations. Bayer, which inherited the Roundup litigation when it bought Monsanto Co. last year, has come under fire from investors after losing three trials in California tying Roundup to cancer. Bayer is now appealing or plans to appeal the verdicts, which have each been lowered by the judges who oversaw the trials. (Randazzo, 7/25)

Evidence at the Oakland trial, though disputed, supports the jury’s conclusion that Roundup was “a substantial factor” in causing non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in both Alva and Alberta Pilliod, said Superior Court Judge Winifred Smith. She said the evidence also supported the jury’s finding that Monsanto had known the herbicide’s active ingredient, glyphosate, could be dangerous while the Pilliods were still using it and had failed to warn them. Further, Smith said, there was clear evidence that Monsanto, after learning of the dangers, “made efforts to impede, discourage or distort scientific inquiry” by regulators who approved its use, “reprehensible” conduct that justifies punitive damages. (Egelko, 7/25)

Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the weed killer Roundup, is facing an unprecedented test in the courtroom, with more than 11,200 people alleging in pending lawsuits that exposure to the chemical led to cancer or other injuries. At the same time, the chemical is facing a trial of public opinion amid rising concerns about its safety. Tests from environmental groups are raising alarm with consumers, such as a recent study finding 21 oat-based cereal and snack products, including Cheerios, contain traces of glyphosate. That caught the attention of many parents, given the popularity of Cheerios among kids. Now, a new, small study from another environmental group found higher levels of glyphosate in children than their parents. (Picchi, 7/25)