A federal judge was considering whether several thousand lawsuits against German drug-maker Bayer will be classified as a class action.

The case focuses on the cholesterol-lowering drug Baycol. At least 100 deaths have been linked to the drug, which was pulled off the market in August 2001.

U.S. District Judge Michael Davis took the matter under advisement on Friday after a two-day hearing. He hasn't said when he'll rule, but it could take some time because the issues are so complex.

About 7,800 lawsuits have been filed, 805 of them in Minnesota. If the cases are certified as a class action, a trial could take place as early as June in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis.

If Davis rules against certification, individuals would have to decide whether to proceed on their own with lawsuits.

Bayer argued against class status.

"The problem of getting into a big class action is that you end up with the tail wagging the dog. You have a class made up (largely) of people who have no legitimate claim at all and who benefited from our medicine," said Philip Beck, Bayer's lead counsel.

In the United States, 900,000 people were taking the drug before it was recalled.

The case is the largest ever in the Minneapolis court.

The court office's clerk has received 2,598 filings in the case through December, and the court has hired four additional clerks to manage the Baycol paperwork it receives each day.