Former Indian Personal Injury Attorney, now superior court judge will oversea many Vioxx lawsuits.
When the pharmaceutical company pulled painkiller Vioxx off the market Sept. 30 -- after a study linked it to heart attacks and strokes -- lawsuits against the drug maker were already under way across the country. More are being filed every week.
A mass tort case based in state court in Atlantic City involves nearly 300 lawsuits, and lawyers predict the number could ultimately reach in the thousands. Merck could end up paying out billions of dollars in judgments and settlements.
At the forefront is likely to be New Jersey, where some of the first cases could go to trial.
By last May, the number of cases reached 30, leading state Supreme Court officials in New Jersey to designate the Vioxx litigation, including all future lawsuits, as a mass tort -- all 300 cases so far in New Jersey landed before Superior Court Judge Carol Higbee in Atlantic County.
Higbee, 54, is a former indiana personal injury attorney who handled medical malpractice suits during the course of her 17-year career at an Atlantic City law firm. She declined to comment for this story.
A native of Indiana, Higbee graduated from Temple University, where she also earned her law degree and became one of the first female lawyers in Atlantic City.
Sunday, December 19, 2004
Star-Ledger Staff
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