TRENTON, N.J. -- Eight weeks after a Texas jury hit drug maker
More than 1,000 Vioxx cases have been filed in New Jersey alone since late August, including 800 in September, and over 500 new cases are pending in federal court.
Based on interviews, Merck now faces well over 6,500 Vioxx lawsuits, up from about 5,000 in the company's last status report.
The latest total includes 3,481 cases filed and docketed as of yesterday morning in New Jersey, plus 2,200 federal cases filed, and about 425 others recently transferred to federal court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, according to court personnel. Merck has said another 450 cases were pending in other state courts as of Aug. 15.
Nearly all are product liability cases, often called personal injury suits. Attorneys and New Jersey court personnel say many were filed because plaintiffs in a handful of states faced a deadline of one year from when Merck pulled the painkiller from the market -- Sept. 30, 2004 -- after research showed it doubled risk of heart attacks and strokes with long-term use.
Some new cases were triggered by the huge Texas verdict, which will be slashed under that state's caps on punitive damages, and other by lawyers hurrying to file suits so they can get in line for an eventual jury trial or settlement, lawyers say.
''There will be an avalanche at two years," the end of the statute of limitations in many states, says plaintiff attorney Chris Seeger.
Seeger, the lead lawyer for plaintiff Frederick ''Mike" Humeston in the second Vioxx trial, which began last month in Atlantic City, expects to see 10,000 to 15,000 cases filed in New Jersey through next September.
Whether he wins or loses the current case, being heard by Superior Court Judge Carol E. Higbee, could influence the number of future suits, Seeger added.
His New York firm already represents more than 500 plaintiffs, but less than 300 have filed suits to date.
Merck officials don't plan to update their count on lawsuits filed until a status conference on federal cases, set for Oct. 27.
''The new filings are not unexpected and do not change our strategy," a Merck spokesman said. ''Right now we are concentrating on defending each and every case we face."