Quoted from http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202435267448
N.J. Court Weighing Mass Tort Status for Suits Over Birth Control Pills
Charles Toutant
New Jersey Law Journal
November 09, 2009
The New Jersey judiciary is considering a request from Passaic County, N.J.'s top judge for mass tort status for a growing number of suits alleging strokes and other serious health problems from the oral contraceptives Yaz, Yasmin and Ocella.
With 13 suits filed in his vicinage, Assignment Judge Donald Volkert Jr. wrote to Acting Administrative Director of the Courts Glenn Grant on Oct. 22 that "the case management and potential trial of this particular litigation would place a fairly substantial strain on our already limited resources."
There are 26 suits against the contraceptives' manufacturers pending in other counties, and Volkert said plaintiffs lawyers have told him the number could reach 1,000.
In a notice to the bar, the Administrative Office of the Courts says it will accept public comments until Dec. 31 on the proposal to centralize the cases in Atlantic, Bergen or Middlesex counties, where mass torts are heard.
Named defendants in the suits are Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals, a German company with U.S. headquarters in Wayne, which makes Yaz and Barr Pharmaceuticals of Montvale, owned Teva Pharmaceuticals of Israel, which makes Ocella, a generic version.