Oh yes they did.
Bayer - from BASF, Bayerische Aniline und Soda Fabrik (Bavarian Dye and Soda - sodium carbonate - Factory) is VERY conservative regarding lawsuits.
They produced a highly effective and relatively safe statin in the 1990s- early 2000’s marketed worldwide BAYCOL was extremely potent, requiring less than a tenth of the amount of medicine for similar LDL reductions.
UNfortunately, when combined with triglyceride-lowing agents like LOPID, some fatalities occurred due to rhabdomyolyis and kidney failure.
This WAS a known risk of this combination, it WAS in the product literature.
I had a patient who almost died from this as his cardiologist decided to prescribe LOPID without telling me, warning the patient of the risks or doing any lab work before or after starting the meds. Kid was in his early 20’s and spent a few weeks in the hospital recovering.
Rather than face US lawfare where even “winning” can cost tens of millions of dollars in legal fees, Bayer took the product off the market preemptively around 2003, IIRC.
Bayer also has some unfortunate associations, IIRC, with some chemicals produced for the Third Reich’s “special population” problem, I think. I’d have to dig into this a bit. But then, ALL corporations were called upon to serve the Reich and their Leader… or else.
Zyklon B
I wonder how many prescription medications people take that are far more risky than glyphosate.
Bayer is not from BASF. They are two diffferent companies. They were formed after WW II when the Allies split up I.G. Farben into three separate companies; Bayer, BASF and Hoechst. I worked for Hoechst for 18 years and had a lot of contact with all three.
The Hoechst part made Zyklon B in a plant I spent time in.
Roundup has been tested and retested as to its safety in the food chain. Its elimination would be an agricultural disaster for the US. Corn, soy beans and cotton would lose significant crop yields if it were banned.
The keys to the Roundup action are the roundup-resistant seeds Monsanto developed that allow the weeds to be killed and the crop to survive. DuPont had similar products.
The fact that Bayer could afford the 10B tax on the product is a neasure of how profitable this is. The farmers are willing to pay to get the yield.
Lawyers are now mining the ignorance and fears of US juries to get their cut and kill a valuable technology.