Bayer’s Roundup Headache Grows as Plaintiffs Pile Into Court (2)

Bayer AG faces a surge in lawsuits from people alleging that its weedkiller Roundup causes cancer, ratcheting up the legal pressure as the company engages in settlement talks.

There are now 42,700 U.S. plaintiffs suing over Roundup—the herbicide inherited from Monsanto—following a blitz of advertising by attorneys seeking new clients that began after Bayer entered mediation discussions in May. The German company last reported facing 18,400 plaintiffs in July and said earlier this month that it expected a surge.

The crisis has cost Bayer more than $30 billion in market value as the inventor of aspirin lost three U.S. trials, ...