New Jersey Court System Strained by 14,000 Vioxx Cases

By Nathan Abbott

Published on October 24, 2006

The Atlantic County Civil Division is handling the vast majority of the over 14,000 lawsuits filed against Merck, and the court's employees are feeling the heat. The state administrative office has approved a request by the court's officials for five new hires, and officials are reconfiguring the budget to allow for the extra caseloads.

The overwhelming flood of Vioxx cases is in addition to the myriad other matters that the court deals with on a regular basis. Teresa Ungaro, the civil division manager, said her employees are adjusting to the extra work by being very creative.

New Jersey is not the only state in which Vioxx cases are being heard, but as it is Merck’s home state, most of the cases were filed in Atlantic City. Vioxx was pulled from the shelves in 2004, after Merck’s own research showed that the arthritis drug doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke. Several cases have been tried already, though the vast majority are still waiting to be heard.

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