New Jersey Courts Clogged with Vioxx Cases

By Nathan Abbott

Published on February 06, 2007

Two years after the first Vioxx cases created a media frenzy around the Atlantic County Civil Courthouse, only four cases have gone to trial within the courthouse—and only three others nationwide—while over 15,700 complaints remain on the dockets in Atlantic County alone. The television cameras have largely disappeared, but the workload continues to pile up.

The cases have increased to such a point that orders were placed for new filing cabinets for the courthouse several months ago, to go along with those that line the chamber of Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee, who is hearing all of the cases. The state has agreed to add a few more positions at the courthouse specifically to deal with the Vioxx workload. A courtroom has even been converted into a mass-tort-team room, to give space to all of the people working on the cases.

Concerns have been raised about the depletion of potential jurors, as many of the 179,000 registered voters in the county eligible to sit in juries for the Vioxx cases will likely be disqualified for one reason or another. However, the director of court operations, Clarence Dickerson, said people need not worry, and that the potential jury pool was sufficient.

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