About this episode

The episode discusses the Supreme Court's decision in Monsanto v. Durnell regarding the preemption of state-law failure-to-warn claims by federal pesticide law.

Monsanto Co. v. Durnell | Case No. 24-1068 | Docket Link: Here | Argued: April 27, 2026 | Decided: June 25, 2026 Overview: Federal pesticide law blocks a Missouri cancer patient's failure-to-warn lawsuit against Monsanto after the EPA repeatedly approved Roundup's label without requiring a cancer warning, despite the patient's claims linking Roundup to his non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Question Presented: Whether the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act expressly preempts a state-law failure-to-warn claim seeking a cancer warning the EPA declined to require. Posture: Missouri jury awarded Durnell $1.25M; Court of Appeals affirmed; Supreme Court reversed and remanded. Main Arguments: • Monsanto (Petitioner): (1) EPA's registration and label approval without a cancer warning creates a binding federal requirement that preempts stricter state demands; (2) Riegel v. Medtronic establishes that analogous agency approval processes create preemptive federal requirements; (3) Missouri's failure-to-warn verdict retroactively penalizes Monsanto for complying with the federal label EPA mandated. • Durnell (Respondent): (1) FIFRA's misbranding prohibition — not EPA's specific label…

Topics covered

• pesticide law
• cancer lawsuits
• federal preemption
• Monsanto
• Roundup
• legal arguments

Keywords

• Monsanto
• Durnell
• Roundup
• cancer warning
• EPA
• FIFRA
• preemption
• lawsuit
• non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Monsanto Co., EPA, FIFRA, Missouri

Books & works: Riegel v. Medtronic

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