Thousands More Suboxone Lawsuits

Santa Clara, CAJust days before the Suboxone deadline to file, thousands of new Suboxone dental injury plaintiffs--many of whom have likely suffered more than tooth loss--have filed complaints against the manufacturers. June 2024 marked the second-year anniversary of a label warning update and potentially marked the statute of limitations on some claims.

And just as Suboxone attorneys predicted, new plaintiffs filed complaints that were triggered by the potential deadline. AboutLawsuits.com reported that, in a recent development, over 9,600 people have added their claims to a collective lawsuit against the Suboxone manufacturers. Before June 14 (the date that Invidior argues establishes a Suboxone lawsuit deadline for many plaintiffs) about 500 Suboxone lawsuits were filed in federal court. These new plaintiffs have joined the bundled complaint that U.S. District Judge Philip Calabrese ordered earlier this month. And all that is required to join is their identity, where they reside, where they were prescribed Suboxone and where they used the drug.

Suboxone Tooth Decay MDL

Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits have been filed in courts nationwide since 2023. The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation earlier this year consolidated all Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits in federal courts into a new MDL, which is assigned to Judge J. Philip Calabrese in the Northern District of Ohio. This means that future complaints filed in federal courts nationwide, and lawsuits filed in federal court  in other states  will be transferred to Ohio for the pre-trial process before Judge Calabrese. After the MDL discovery phase, some sample cases will be included for bellwether test trials, with the goal to help facilitate a global settlement.

Invidior

The Suboxone lawsuits allege that makers of the opioid addiction drug failed to warn about potential dental side effects, from cavities to irreversible damage. Plaintiffs argue that a sublingual film version that was introduced in 2012 and replaced the tablet form (approved in 2002) was in fact marketed to delay the entry of generic alternatives. As well, Indivior, Inc. and Aquestive Therapeutics Inc., the two two primary defendants in the Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits, failed to provide sufficient warnings about the risks to dental health.

It’s not much of a stretch to assume that Invidior chose profits over people. After all, its former CEO was sentenced to six months in jail over Suboxone safety claims –trying to maximize profits. And it’s a no-brainer to assume that they knew the dangers of tooth decay but chose not to tell the medical community because a warning meant less Suboxone prescriptions. But most of those patients harmed by the drug were suffering from addiction problems and trying to get their life back on track was made even more difficult when dealing with severe dental problems. Patients believed that Suboxone could help them fight addiction: instead, the consequences of tooth loss can cause increased risks to general health – some even life-threatening. And severe dental problems can also cause depression.

How many of those almost 10,000 plaintiffs have suffered these consequences?

Indivior finally slapped a warning label for tooth decay on Suboxone after the FDA mandated it do so in June 2022 after having received many reports of tooth loss.