On June 25, 2026, the Supreme Court, in Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, ruled on the question of whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”) preempts state-law failure-to-warn claims against Monsanto for its Roundup products. Monsanto Co. v. Durnell, 2026 U.S. LEXIS 2721 (June 25, 2026). In a 7-2 opinion the Court dispatched Missouri resident John Durnell, who alleged that Monsanto failed to warn him of Roundup’s cancer risks, and that he developed non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a result. Id. at *6-7. As a former landscaper who is all too familiar with Roundup products, I found this opinion particularly interesting. This opinion is expected to block thousands of failure to warn suits,[1] but will also provide greater regulatory ease for industry players. Lindsay Whitehurst, Supreme Court ruling blocks thousands of lawsuits against maker of Roundup Weedkiller, PBS Newshour, June 25, 2026; Bayer Global, Monsanto wins landmark Roundup™ case at U.S. Supreme Court, June 25, 2026. Additionally, this decision will serve to weaken the United States tort system’s role as a decentralized back-end regulatory body.
