Court Outlines Plan To Prepare Suboxone Tooth Decay Lawsuits for Trial in Early 2028

Suboxone lawsuit MDL judge indicates four cases will eventually be selected the first bellwether trials, which will begin in March 2028.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over thousands of federal Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits filed by users nationwide, has issued an order outlining the schedule to prepare a group of representative cases for a series of “bellwether” test trials that may begin in March 2028, in hopes that the outcomes will help lawyers negotiate settlements that may resolve the massive litigation.

Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) is a widely used opioid addiction treatment, which was first introduced in tablet form. However, the manufacturer, Indivior, later reformulated it into a dissolvable film strip, which has been linked to reports of dental decay and tooth loss among users.

It was not until years later, in June 2022, that the drug maker updated the warning label, indicating that Suboxone film side effects may place users at risk of tooth damage and other oral health concerns.

Indivior now faces tens of thousands of Suboxone lawsuits brought throughout the federal court system, each raising similar allegations that the manufacturer put a desire for profits ahead of patient safety, by failing to warn users or the medical community earlier about the potential risk, and steps that could have been taken to avoid tooth decay.

Due to the size of the litigation and the common allegations raised in the cases, all federal Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits were consolidated in the Northern District of Ohio as part of a multidistrict litigation (MDL) in February 2024, where U.S. District Judge Philip Calabrese has been presiding over coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

Suboxone Lawsuit Bellwether Trials

For nearly a year, Judge Calabrese has had the parties preparing to select a group of representative cases for early trial dates, known as a bellwether trial process, which will provide the parties a chance to see how juries weigh evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

Judge Calabrese originally designated 500 cases as part of a Records Collection Pool in May 2025, directing each of the randomly selected plaintiffs to produce records necessary to allow the parties to narrow that pool down to 100 cases that involve allegations that are representative of the litigation as a whole for the next phase of discovery.

On March 27, Judge Calabrese issued a case management order (PDF) laying out a schedule and key deadlines that must be met to prepare for the first trial dates, which should get underway in early 2028.

Ultimately, the judge indicates the parties and court will select four Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits to serve as a trial pool. The order indicates that 20 cases must be randomly selected from the remaining 100 for core discovery by June 10. The parties will then select 15 cases as their preferences for representative cases by July 2, 2026. Deposition on these cases will last from July 13, 2026 until January 15, 2027, according to the order.

Motions to dismiss any of the trial pool cases are due by March 12, 2027, with responses due by April 20 and hearings on the motions scheduled for the week of April 26 or May 3, 2027.

Full discovery for the 15 trial pool cases will be completed by June 4, 2027, with the selection of the four final bellwether trial cases set for June 11, 2027. The schedule indicates the first trial will begin sometime in March 2028.

While not binding on other cases, the outcomes of these bellwether trials will be closely watched, as the verdicts and payouts may signal how many of the thousands of cases would be resolved if they all went to trial. Those outcomes could lead to Suboxone tooth decay settlement negotiations.

However, if no Suboxone settlement or other resolution is reached by the end of the bellwether trials and the pretrial proceedings, Judge Calabrese will likely begin remanding the cases back to their originating districts for individual trial dates.

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