Lawsuit Information Center
I want to give you honest answers to your questions about the Suboxone lawsuits.
I’ve been reading over other lawyers’ pages, even our pages… I don’t think we are answering the real question victims have, including what settlement payouts we expect for a Suboxone lawsuit. So this is the inside story and answer to your questions and settlement and the possible timing for receiving the compensation you deserve.
September 2024 Suboxone Lawsuit Status
The Suboxone tooth decay class action MDL has basically doubled in size since the start of the summer. There are now 673 pending cases in the MDL, compared to 358 at the start of June. The defendants recently agreed to a tolling agreement that will allow potential plaintiffs to file claims without actually filing lawsuits, so the volume of new cases added to the MDL will now slow down.
The Suboxone defendants filed a motion to dismiss all Suboxone lawsuits against them, citing federal preemption. Federal preemption is a common affirmative defense in product liability cases involving prescription drugs. The argument is that plaintiffs cannot sue manufacturers under state law for failure to warn because the FDA’s federal regulations govern the content of warning labels for prescription drugs. This defense is rarely successful in these cases, and we do not anticipate a different outcome here.
Your Suboxone Claim Questions
What Is the Suboxone Lawsuit About?
You have to be able to distill a lawsuit down very simply to be able to win it. The core of every Suboxone lawsuit is that Invidior was profit-crazed and was willing to do anything to make more money off Suboxone. Remember, people went to jail for trying to maximize the profits of Suboxone.
So it is no stretch that they knew full well of the danger of severe tooth decay of this drug and did not tell doctors or patients because they figured – correctly – that a warning would lead to fewer doctors prescribing Suboxone.
The gist of every Suboxone lawsuit, then, is that the drug is quite acidic, and this acidity can be harmful to teeth. Even though there’s a lot of proof that Suboxone can cause these dental issues, the companies that make and sell Suboxone did not update the warnings on the drug’s label until 2022 to tell people about these risks. They knew about the problem but chose to do nothing about it.
So the core claim in these tooth decay lawsuits is that the manufacturer was aware of the potential for severe dental injuries from the drug but did not provide adequate warnings to consumers or healthcare providers. Plaintiffs allege that the failure to warn prevented them from making an informed decision about their treatment options, potentially leading to serious dental health issues.
This is a patient population at a higher risk for dental problems. So, when they use Suboxone, thinking it’s safe and will help them beat addiction, they have no idea it could harm their teeth. The companies should have told them about this risk, but they didn’t. Now, people trying to get their lives back on track after fighting addiction are facing unexpected dental problems. These people had options – other drugs that could have helped them – but they chose Suboxone because they did not know of the risks.
Why Does Suboxone Hurt Your Teeth?
Suboxone is formulated with certain acidic components that, when frequently exposed to teeth, can lead to enamel erosion and subsequent tooth decay.
You can skip the rest of the section if that is enough detail for you. Here is the nuts and bolts. The film works best in a specific acidic environment (pH around 3 to 3.5), which is achieved by using pH modifiers in the formulation. This acidic pH is necessary because it helps buprenorphine absorb more effectively into the bloodstream from under the tongue.
Let’s put this in some context. Using Suboxone film at a pH of 3 to 3.5 is twice more acidic than your mouth’s usual pH of about 7. Car battery acid has a pH of about 1. It’s like inviting a somewhat less aggressive cousin of battery acid to a pool party in your mouth. This is an unsuspected twist in the plot of daily dental dynamics, right? So what should you do? Brush more, see the dentist more, etc.
The solution would have been to warn patients and doctors of the risk so people could make an informed choice about whether to use Suboxone.
Why didn’t Indivior do just that? If they had, there would not be a lawsuit. But plaintiffs’ allege that while the was known to the manufacturers, they did not disclose it to minimize the impact on their sales. Indivior has made a fortune on Suboxone.
What Is the Current Status of the Suboxone Lawsuits?
Since early 2023, Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits have been filed in courts nationwide. In January 2024, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated all Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits in federal courts into a new “class action” MDL. The new Suboxone MDL has been assigned to Judge J. Philip Calabrese in the Northern District of Ohio.
This means Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits in federal courts around the U.S. will be transferred to the Northern District of Ohio for consolidated proceedings before Judge Calabrese. (Most Suboxone lawyers skip that step because you can direct file in the MDL in September 2024.)
The cases will go through a typical MDL discovery phase (while new cases are being added), and eventually, a handful of sample cases will be selected for bellwether test trials. The results of these test trials are supposed to help facilitate a global settlement deal. In the last status conference, the MDL judge was talking about just that.
- Get day-to-day Suboxone updates
Is This MDL a Suboxone Class Action Lawsuit?
Sort of. An MDL, or Multidistrict Litigation, differs from a class action because it handles many individual lawsuits separately, even though they’re all about a similar problem.
In a class action, one lawsuit represents a whole group with the same issue, and you get one jury payout or settlement amount. Here, the cases are consolidated under one judge; you get to keep your own case, and your settlement amount or jury payout will be yours alone.
Why did you think that there was a Suboxone class action? Annoying lawyers (like me) use the term class action lawsuit instead of MDL because that is how many people understand what an MDL is. But it is misleading. This is an MDL that houses all federal Suboxone lawsuits.
Where Will My Suboxone Lawsuit Go Now?
The Suboxone MDL is in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio (Cleveland). If you have a pending Suboxone lawsuit in a federal court in another state, it will eventually be transferred into the MDL in the Northern District of Ohio for the pre-trial process, like gathering evidence and legal arguments, to make things more efficient.
But, again, your case remains separate, and if it goes to trial, it will most likely be heard in the court where it was initially filed, not necessarily in Ohio. The Ohio court coordinates and streamlines the early stages of all these related cases.
Will My Suboxone Lawsuit Go to Trial?
Your Suboxone lawsuit could go to trial. But history tells us that is extremely – extremely – unlikely. The most likely scenario is that you will wait, fill out some paperwork, and eventually get a settlement payout. This litigation could resolve without a single trial for anyone. If I was Indivior, I would be scared to let one of these cases go to trial. Big verdicts bring out even more plaintiffs.
Why Were Plaintiffs” Lawyers So Slow to File Suboxone Tooth Decay Lawsuits?
Lawyers were likely cautious in filing Suboxone lawsuits initially due to several reasons. First, there was uncertainty about the severity and direct link of the injuries caused by Suboxone, particularly when considering tooth decay as the injury. In mass torts, lawyers are often handling wrongful death or catastrophic injury. So the injuries – as awful as they are – are not what you see in many mass tort lawsuits.
Secondly, there were doubts regarding whether tooth decay in former opiate addicts could be attributed solely to Suboxone, as there might be other contributing factors.
Lastly, and I’m just telling you the truth here, there were hesitations about representing a client base comprising former drug addicts, which could present unique challenges in terms of reliability and public perception of the cases.
Then Why Did Lawyers Start Filing Suboxone Lawsuits?
Well, first, it is worth pointing out that many mass tort law firms are not buying into this litigation. Lots of marketing companies sell Suboxone leads. Our firm has never bought a lead from a marketing company. But I use the cost as a marker for how sought-after the market is for mass tort litigation. The cost is low, and the competition for Suboxone lawsuits is still pretty low.
Why Our Lawyers Love the Suboxone Cases
But some Suboxone lawyers – like us – are excited about the cases. I like these claims a lot. Why?
First, it is pretty clear that Indivior was into some really shady stuff with Suboxone. How often do you have a case where drug company executives went to jail trying to maximize profits? It is hardly a leap to say they knew of the risks of dental injuries and ignored them when they were doing illegal things to maximize profits.
Second, there is no genuine dispute that Suboxone causes tooth decay. Because the warning in 2024 says it causes tooth decay. So many of these mass tort warnings lawsuits are about getting the company to admit a warning was necessary. In the Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits, this is handed to us on a silver platter.
Finally, we are not just talking about some cavities. People have horrible teeth now, and when lawyers reflected on it more, we realized that these problems have upended people’s lives.
Defense Lawyers Have These Cases Wrong
Suboxone defense lawyers think that most plaintiffs with have minor damage to their teeth and they will present to a jury as “low quality” plaintiffs. To the former point, I still don’t think the defendants understand the severity of these injuries and they discount the pain and suffering victims are enduring.
In terms of the quality of the plaintiffs, American juries are really willing to look past the past failings of plaintiffs. Particularly, in that jury box, you are less like to throw stones in a glass house. They know we have all made mistakes. And, importantly, it is even easier to overlook those mistakes when you are up against a company that has a real history of bad things. We expect more—we should expect more—from companies that are making such critical drugs.
In Which States Are Your Lawyers Taking Suboxone Lawsuits?
Until recently, our firm was only accepting Suboxone tooth decay cases from certain states. As of August 2024, however, we are now evaluating and taking Suboxone cases from all 50 states. The states listed below are still preferred locations for Suboxone claims, but they are no longer exclusive.
| Arkansas | Florida |
| Maine | Maryland |
| Massachusetts | Michigan |
| Mississippi | Missouri |
| Montana | Nebraska |
| New Hampshire | New Jersey |
| Rhode Island | South Carolina |
| South Dakota | Texas |
| Michigan | Vermont |
| Virginia | Washington |
| Wisconsin | Wyoming |
| Connecticut | Washington DC |
How Long Will the Suboxone Lawsuits Take?
The Suboxone lawsuits will take a long time. It will be years before Suboxone settlement amounts are offered.
That is the reality. There is no way around it. This is not a quick-money scheme. We will lose some of you because you think you will have a better answer elsewhere. And you might. But anyone who tells you that they expect Suboxone settlement payouts quickly is either dead wrong or lying.
But… here is the good news. Unlike other pharmaceutical litigations that might involve a range of side effects, Suboxone lawsuits specifically focus on severe dental decay directly linked to the drug’s acidic nature and its interaction with the mouth. This specificity can potentially streamline the litigation process by focusing on a singular type of injury which might drive these cases to a faster resolution.
Does Your Firm Handle Suboxone Lawsuits Alone?
Our law firm tries to partner in most mass tort lawsuits. In these cases, we seek the best Suboxone lawyers possible to help us maximize our clients’ settlement payouts. So, we partner with firms in Chicago and Florida that are well-suited to help our clients. Your next question should be, does this cost you any more in attorneys’ fees? It does not. There is no additional cost, and you have two law firms for the price of one.
What Suboxone Settlement Amounts Do You Expect?
We will try to maximize the settlement payout for every client. But you want a settlement estimate – really a guess at this stage – and I will give it to you.
Our lawyers think that if people settle their lawsuits about tooth decay caused by Suboxone, they might get between $50,000 and $150,000. We can get more clients by making a higher prediction.
Are we shooting for higher? Will some lawsuits get higher compensation? Yes and yes. But I think we owe it to you to be honest about what we think will be the average Suboxone settlement payout. We have many clients and will not lie to you to get more.
That is a settlement payout. But, if these cases go to court instead of settling, the amount of money people could get might be a lot more, maybe even over $1 million, especially if they include extra money as a punishment (punitive damages).
Again, it’s really early to say how much the settlements will be in the Suboxone tooth decay cases. We can’t predict the exact amounts right now. You could say we are just guessing, and that wouldn’t be wrong.
But, if these Suboxone suits are successful – and it seems pretty straightforward, they should have warned people about tooth decay – and if there’s good proof linking the tooth decay to Suboxone, then our guess about how much money they might get could be close to what happens.
The other big question is when will there be a Suboxone settlement. There are settlement rumors of an early resolution and our lawyers hope that is how it plays out. History suggest we are more than a year away.
Why Can’t I Find a Lawyer Willing to Take My Lawsuit?
Our law firm is actively seeing new cases. If you cannot find a Suboxone lawyer, there is one of two reasons. First, you may be in a state with an unfavorable statute of limitations. Second, Suboxone attorneys in 2024 are raising the bar on the how serious the victim’s injuries must be. Many firms, including ours now, has a “three extraction or equivalent injury” rule although we do not always follow that rule.
Can I Still Join a Suboxone Lawsuit for Tooth Problems?
Our Suboxone lawyers are taking cases in all 50 states in 2024.
Get in Touch About Your Suboxone Tooth Decay Case
Our national team of lawyers at Miller & Zois is looking for and will accept new cases of tooth decay from Suboxone nationwide in the states listed above. If you used Suboxone and then had tooth decay, you might be able to start a legal case.
Give us a call at 800-553-8082 or reach out to us online for a free talk about your situation.