Side Effects of Suboxone Ruined Teeth, Requiring Substantial Dental Work to Repair Damage: Lawsuit

Kentucky man used the film strips for more than a decade to treat opioid use disorder, before learning the side effects of Suboxone were ruining his teeth.

A product liability lawsuit has been filed against the makers of Suboxone, indicating that users and the medical community were not adequately warned that side effects of the sublingual film may ruin teeth, often causing dental erosion and decay after use of the opioid addiction treatment.

Ewell Cassidy filed the complaint (PDF) in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky on January 18, seeking financial compensation from the drug makers, including Indivior, Inc., Aquestive Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly known as MonoSol RX, LLC) and Reckitt Benckiser LLC, as defendants.

Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) was first introduced in 2002, as a dissolvable tablet used for treatment of recovering opioid addicts. The drug makers subsequently introduced a Suboxone film version in 2013, which is placed under the tongue or inside the cheek. However, side effects of Suboxone film have been linked to a staggering number of reports involving ruined teeth, which may decay, rot and fall out of the mouth.

It was not until June 2022 that the drug makers provided updated warnings about the Suboxone side effects, disclosing for the first time that use of the drug was associated with irreversible tooth damage, and instructing doctors to monitor dental health during treatments. However, Cassidy indicates that was too late for his teeth, which had already experienced permanent damage from Suboxone film side effects.

The complaint joins a growing number Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits now being pursued against the manufacturers, each raising similar allegations that users could have avoided permanently ruining their teeth if earlier warnings had been provided for consumers and the medical community.

According to the lawsuit, Cassidy was prescribed Suboxone in 2011 for the treatment of opioid use disorder. He indicates that the use of the Suboxone film caused dental decay, resulting in the need for extensive dental work.

Cassidy indicates it was not until late 2023 that he finally learned that the side effects of Suboxone were the cause of his tooth damage.

The lawsuit indicates that the manufacturers marketed Suboxone as a maintenance drug, knowing that the film could cause dental erosion, particularly if used for an extensive period of time, but failed to provide adequate warnings to doctors and patients, or provide them with a means of preventing the side effects of Suboxone from ruining their teeth

“During the relevant time periods, Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s physicians were given no warning and had no knowledge of the serious risk of dental erosion and decay Suboxone film posed,” the lawsuit states. “Subsequently, and as a result of Plaintiff’s prescribed use of Suboxone film, Plaintiff now suffers from permanent tooth damage and/or had substantial dental work performed to repair the damage caused by Suboxone film.”

January 2024 Suboxone Film Lawsuit Update

Given common questions of fact and law raised in the complaint filed by Cassidy and other consumer, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) is scheduled to hear oral arguments later this month to determine whether to centralize all Suboxone tooth decay lawsuits before one judge for coordinated discovery and pretrial proceedings.

In complex pharmaceutical litigation, where large numbers of claims are brought by users of the same medication or medical product, each experiencing the same or similar injuries, it is common for the U.S. JPML to centralize the litigation to reduce duplicative discovery into common issues that will arise in all claims, avoid conflicting pretrial rulings and to serve the convenience of certain witnesses and parties who will be required to testify in each of the lawsuits.

As Suboxone side effects lawyers continue to review and file claims for individuals who experienced dental erosion after receiving the opioid addiction treatment, it is ultimately expected that hundreds of claims will be brought throughout the federal court system.

After the hearing, the JPML will determine whether to transfer the claims to one court and confirm the judge appointed to preside over the proceedings. However, if Suboxone tooth damage settlements are not reached following coordinated pretrial proceedings in the MDL, each individual claim ma later be remanded back to the U.S. District Court where it was originally filed for separate trial dates.