WHEN DOES A STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS = NEWS? . . . Only in the Vioxx litigation can the expiration of a filing deadline inspire lots of news articles like this one--

Saturday was the deadline for many users to sue the Whitehouse Station, N.J.-based drug maker over heart attacks, strokes or other harm they blame on Vioxx. Patients in 22 states, many heavily populated ones, can no longer sue Merck because they have a limit of two years on initiating personal injury lawsuits; four other states have one-year limits.

According to the news stories, D-Day was September 30. The news event even inspired at least one press release from a law firm--

Fort Worth plaintiffs' attorney John David Hart and other Texas lawyers will be making their way to the courthouse in the next few days to file additional Vioxx lawsuits before the Texas statue of limitations expires on Sept. 30, 2006.

Mr. Hart, founder of The Law Offices of John David Hart, says he will be filing 22 or more new Vioxx claims before the Sept. 30 deadline, in state and federal courts in Texas and throughout the United States.

I'm a little skeptical that these lawyers actually showed up at the courthouse themselves with their lawsuits, rather than sending someone on their staffs, but who knows? With all the media interest in the passing of the filing deadline, the lawyers might have hoped to find the bright lights of TV cameras illuminating the counter in the clerk's office.

Meanwhile, few of the articles listed the 25+ states that have deadlines in excess of two years for filing personal injury cases. And none of them mentioned the American Pipe doctrine, which I bet some lawyers will argue extends the deadline in some cases.

For other Vioxx-related posts, look here.