If you or a loved one struggles with an opioid addiction disorder, you may receive a Suboxone prescription to help overcome the condition. As a patient, you are more likely to trust that the drugs issued during treatment are safe for consumption. Therefore, unforeseen side effects can negatively affect your well-being and cause additional complications.
Upon facing severe side effects of Suboxone, consider seeking legal redress for the defective medication to help you recover from the losses suffered. Pursuing legal action against the Suboxone manufacturers requires adequate legal preparation, so you should also work closely with a product liability attorney.
At Consumer Alert Now, we understand the importance of seeking compensation after using defective products that cause serious medical complications. Our team is ready to help you prepare for a mass tort lawsuit against the liable parties, allowing you to receive the compensation you deserve for the harm caused. Further, you can count on us to represent you adequately in court for improved chances of a favorable case outcome. Our services are available to anyone looking to sue Suboxone manufacturers after suffering unforeseen medical complications.
Understanding What Suboxone is Useful For
Opioid addiction is a recurrent condition among many patients, especially when receiving recurrent treatment that includes pain management. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) controls the quality of medications containing opioids available for prescription, patients are still at risk of developing addictions.
Based on this, doctors working in drug therapy and related fields have prescribed Suboxone for years to counter conditions that arise after opioid use. With the drug, patients should slowly recover from opioid dependence and additional side effects.
Common Side Effects of Suboxone
Like any other drug, using Suboxone exposes you to possible side effects, so you need to be careful before consuming the medication. Your pharmacist or doctor will inform you of the possible side effects and request additional information on your allergens to ensure the drug is compatible.
The following are common side effects of Suboxone and how they may affect you:
Mouth Numbness
Drugs often alter the body's normal functioning, making you susceptible to new bodily sensations. Among them is mouth numbness after taking Suboxone. The numbness may be mild or severe, depending on your nerve sensitivity, and some patients report total mouth numbness for a few hours.
If the condition is concerning or lasts for longer than anticipated, consider speaking to your doctor to prevent complications from arising. Failure to report concerning issues may cause nerve damage around your mouth, leaving you unable to undertake normal functions like eating regularly.
Recurrent Headaches
Further, some patients report recurrent headaches after taking Suboxone, and they may arise for various reasons. For example, the drug may prevent proper blood supply to the head due to constricted arteries. As a result, you may experience recurrent headaches that affect your overall well-being.
Despite this, you can counter the condition by taking painkillers, provided they do not contain opioids. Checking in with your doctor before taking your pain management drugs is, therefore, essential. Thanks to their input, you will receive clear instructions on the safest drug combination for headache management as you continue with your Suboxone prescription.
Recurrent Insomnia
Melatonin is the hormone that makes you sleep and initiates operations after a specific trigger. For example, reducing the lighting around you can trigger your brain to release the hormone, signaling to the body that it is time to sleep.
However, after introducing suboxone, melatonin production may stop or become irregular because of the newly introduced conditions. As a result, you are more likely to face recurrent insomnia, which only reduces after your Suboxone dosage is complete.
Anxiety and Depression
Suboxone may also trigger psychological side effects like anxiety and depression, mainly because it works towards breaking your opioid addiction. The side effects are withdrawal symptoms as your body adapts to the new circumstances without opioid use.
If you already experience anxiety or depression, Suboxone may enhance them, making it necessary to seek professional help as soon as possible. In doing so, you protect yourself from harmful practices linked to regression in your treatment.
Overall, the discussed Suboxone side effects do not pose a widespread threat to patients’ health, as they are subjective. Due to this, your doctor will only make you aware of them, but they do not warrant a lawsuit against Suboxone manufacturers.
Why Patients Are Filing Lawsuits Against Suboxone Manufacturers
Although Suboxone should be effective as a remedy for opioid abuse and dependence, patients have launched complaints based on the severe side effects they encountered after using the drug. Multiple lawsuits against Reckitt Benckiser and Indivior have emerged, drawing attention to the quality of Suboxone.
Questions on the suitability of Suboxone for human consumption have emerged, making it necessary to assess your condition and establish whether you are also aggrieved. The overall complaints raised in the filed lawsuits highlight the dental complications that patients have experienced with Suboxone use.
Compared to the side effects discussed above, dental complications warrant lawsuits because they are more widespread among many Suboxone users. This, therefore, points to a possible product defect, and several case outcomes have confirmed the need to hold Suboxone manufacturers liable.
So far, Indivior, a company linked to drug manufacturers, has committed to paying out $385 million as a settlement fee to aggrieved traders and customers. The settlement indicates an awareness of product defect fault, making it necessary for you or an aggrieved loved one to join a mass tort lawsuit.
Reported Dental Complications After Using Suboxone
As you prepare to seek legal redress against Suboxone manufacturers, you must highlight a transparent drug-use complaint. Doing so builds your credibility by giving you a rightful claim against the company and increases your chances of receiving the requested amount as compensation.
With your product liability attorney’s help, you can establish under which class of complaints you fall to help you file your lawsuit. The dental complaints include:
Dental Infections
A dental infection develops after bacteria spread into teeth pockets, creating a serious health risk. You are likely to experience conditions after using suboxone if the drug corrodes your teeth or leaves a lot of deposits in your mouth, making it easier for bacteria to grow and spread.
Dental infections manifest in various ways, so you need to be aware of the possible symptoms. Among them is persistent bad breath that often indicates bacteria growth under or inside your teeth pockets.
The smell of bad breath associated with a dental infection also significantly differs from when you have not cleaned your teeth. It is often more pungent, making it important to schedule a dental checkup to establish the primary reason for the condition.
Complications related to dental infections may also lead to dental abscess development. An abscess is a pus pocket that develops after bacteria attack healthy flesh. Additionally, the accumulating pus results from dead white blood cells that try to fight off bacteria. Their continued accumulation causes a pungent smell, alerting you to seek urgent dental treatment.
Further, patients report pain when chewing or biting, indicating a developing infection. You are likely to experience this if an abscess has formed under the crown surface, resulting in increased pressure on internal tooth parts. Subsequently, you have a harder time chewing and biting, resulting in severe tooth pain.
Suboxone complaints may also encompass dental infections that spread to the gums. The complication may develop based on an untreated tooth infection that extends into your gums. Common indicators of gum infections include bleeding and swollen gums. You may also experience extra gum sensitivity when brushing, indicating the need for medical intervention.
If you began experiencing dental complications after taking Suboxone, you may have a valid claim against the manufacturers. Thus, consider working closely with a product liability attorney to help you seek rightful compensation.
Tooth Cavities
Cavities are holes that develop on the tooth crown after bacteria deposit harmful chemicals. Usually, bacteria secrete harmful bacteria as waste after consuming sugar and other stuck food particles. Since suboxone is an oral drug taken similarly to mouth tablets, it could increase the possibility of cavity development.
You may notice cavity spreads when inspecting your teeth after brushing or during a routine dental examination. After determining that your cavity development is primarily linked to suboxone use, consider filing a lawsuit to seek legal redress for the issue.
Doing so is important because it helps you receive compensation for the possible harm done to your teeth. For example, if you did not previously have cavities, your teeth are significantly deteriorated and more vulnerable to damage. You are, therefore, entitled to a remedy for your exposure to harm.
Tooth Decay
When cavities develop too fast and remain untreated, they may grow into tooth decay, a more severe condition. Tooth decay manifests as a larger hole than a cavity after bacteria continue eroding the tooth surface.
Once tooth decay begins, you are at a higher risk of additional dental infections because the sensitive internal parts of your teeth are exposed. Therefore, you must seek urgent dental treatment to remedy the condition and prevent future complications.
Tooth decay is identifiable by several symptoms, including tooth sensitivity. The condition develops because tooth decay may expose your nerves to external stimuli, making it easier to experience sharp pains. Further, you will physically note larger holes on your tooth surface that are often black, indicating the extent of corrosion that has occurred.
If your claim involves a tooth decay complaint, you should be careful when establishing the drug manufacturer’s fault. This is mainly because tooth decay is progressive, meaning you may have existing cavities. Nevertheless, you can argue that the cavities only worsened after using Suboxone, hence your claim.
Tooth Loss
Losing teeth is also a reported issue for patients on Suboxone prescriptions. The condition is a subsequent complication after a gum infection or tooth decay. It arises because your gum flesh cannot continue supporting the root in position, making it weak. Eventually, you experience tooth loss, and the condition may affect more than one tooth based on the severity of your case.
Tooth loss may also arise after tooth decay, especially if bacteria attack the root and weaken it. You can, therefore, link your claim to Suboxone use and seek rightful compensation for the harm caused.
The Eligibility Criteria to Meet as a Suboxone Claimant
When determining whether you qualify as a claimant, you must assess the eligibility criteria. Doing so is essential because it gives you a rightful claim, making it easier for the court to award compensation.
Your product liability attorney will help you establish whether your case circumstances match the qualifications necessary to file a lawsuit. You should thus detail all relevant matters to them to confirm your suitability for joining a lawsuit.
The following are the eligibility criteria and standards for persons looking to file a lawsuit against Suboxone manufacturers:
You Have Used a Suboxone, Belbuca, or Zubsolv Prescription for At Least Six Months
The most important qualifier to join a Suboxone lawsuit is using the drug, meaning you must have a running prescription for it. Your case is also acceptable if you have used Belbuca or Zubsolv in the past six months, which are drugs manufactured similar to Suboxone. Based on this, your attorney must demonstrate that you have previously experienced opioid dependency when seeking treatment for pain management.
You may do this by sourcing medical history records from a rehabilitation center that diagnosed you and prescribed Suboxone. Further, the document must be from a qualified doctor who has thoroughly assessed your case and can justify prescribing Suboxone as a treatment.
Your medical history should also indicate how long you have relied on Suboxone prescriptions to remedy opioid addiction and recurrent pain issues. To do this, your attorney retrieves medical records from your past visits, as they are useful in establishing your claims.
Additionally, you can retrieve purchase receipts from pharmacies or hospitals that prescribed Suboxone as proof of being under prescription. This way, you have an easier time presenting your case in a mass tort lawsuit and have a better chance of securing a positive case outcome.
Your Prescription was for At Least Six Months
The court also requires time specificity when dealing with Suboxone lawsuits to avoid handling premature or overstated claims. Based on this, you must demonstrate that your Suboxone prescription has been running for at least six months.
As a bona fide patient seeking to remedy opioid dependency, you only need to access your doctor's notes and prescriptions dating back six months. The clinic or pharmacist office that issued the drugs should have the records stored, but it also helps to present your original prescription copies for added credibility.
If you had to discontinue treatment because of a lack of financial resources to buy Suboxone, you can justify the break in the six-month threshold. However, you must demonstrate that you used the medication continuously as a prescribed remedy for opioid addiction management.
You Have Developed Dental Complications Before June 2022
The basis of your lawsuit is to seek compensation for dental complications developed from suboxone use. Specifically, you must have developed a severe toothache resulting in tooth extraction or loss. The court must also establish that your condition developed before June 2022 to meet the eligibility criteria.
Due to this, consider gathering evidence to show that your teeth were in good condition before starting your prescription and that they have worsened because of the drug.
To do this, you can liaise with your dentist to provide your records, indicating that you also conducted due diligence and attended regular checkups. Since your dentist’s clinic retains your medical records for a long time, they can identify the period from which you began reporting cavities, tooth decay, gum disease, or tooth loss.
Your case will be easier to prove if the dates of your reported dental conditions align with when your Suboxone prescription started. Thus, your product liability attorney must consolidate the available documents to ensure they provide a conclusive argument for your claims.
You Did Not Use Meth or Heroin Before the Dental Complications
As a claimant, the court is more likely to accept your case if you have not used meth or heroin for any period leading up to the tooth decay. Eliminating drug use is important because it distinguishes your complications from possible sources related to meth or heroin use.
You can present drug test results to justify your position and to ensure you have a valid case to present once the trial begins. Your product liability attorney may also guide you through demonstrating that your previous drug addictions were only linked to opioids, so developing a tooth problem from heroin or meth was unlikely.
Joining a Mass Tort Lawsuit Against Suboxone Manufacturers
Multiple aggrieved parties have raised issues against Suboxone manufacturers, making it easier for courts to combine cases into specific groupings. Based on this, your product liability attorney advises you to join a mass tort lawsuit for easier dispensation of justice.
You should be able to join a case grouping, provided you meet the eligibility criteria discussed above. Additionally, you should confirm the filing timelines with other aggrieved parties through your attorney to ensure you present your claim on time.
Working with a product liability attorney is also beneficial because they understand the various court requirements and deadlines to meet. Therefore, you have an easier time navigating the court process than preparing for a mass tort lawsuit by yourself.
As an aggrieved member in a mass tort lawsuit, the court also expects you to present your evidence in advance to facilitate case groupings. You must anticipate what the court needs in advance to prevent losing time, so consider consulting with your attorney beforehand.
Specific Claims to Present in a Suboxone Mass Tort Lawsuit
Once you receive clearance to present your matter in court, your product liability attorney presents your arguments on why the liable party should be liable for your current condition. During the hearing, your lawyer is responsible for giving a persuasive statement of claims that aligns with other aggrieved parties’ positions.
They should, therefore, call on the court to assess your case against the rest of the claimants to establish the need for compensation. Based on the high standard of proof that the court expects, you must present specific claims that arose from using Suboxone.
Important claims to include in your case include:
Medical Expenses
When you or a loved one develops dental complications from suboxone exposure, you need urgent dental treatment to remedy the situation. You will subsequently incur medical expenses related to your treatment and are entitled to compensation.
Dental treatments can be expensive, especially if they involve removing and replacing your natural tooth with an implant. The treatment method is often applicable for patients with severe tooth decay and tooth loss arising from suboxone use.
When presenting your claim, submit the relevant dental charge receipts linked to the treatment you received after developing complications. Further, consider including your dentist’s notes and prescription for pain medication to justify additional costs that sum up your claims. In doing so, you are better positioned to receive the rightful compensation for the loss suffered.
Loss of Wages
Complications arising from suboxone use may also push you to take days off of work as you seek treatment to remedy your dental condition. Due to this, you may miss significant wage-earning potential, especially if you run your own business. For example, a shop owner who conducts their transactions may have to remain closed until they recover from the administered dental treatment.
Moreover, employees may miss paydays if they cannot work because of dental complications stemming from a Suboxone prescription. Your product liability attorney is ready to help you calculate the estimated amount lost, allowing you to recover it in compensation.
In-patient Patient Treatment
Although dental complications stem from the teeth or gums, an undetected infection may spread throughout the body and cause a serious medical emergency. Consequently, you may need in-patient treatment as doctors observe your condition before releasing you.
While treatment is necessary, the costs will quickly pile up, forcing you to spend money you did not plan for. The situation is better if you have comprehensive medical coverage to reduce expenses. Based on this, you can rightfully claim compensation from the Suboxone manufacturers if you can show a direct link between your hospitalization and taking Suboxone as a prescription medication.
Contact a Product Liability Attorney Near Me
When you or a loved one suffers serious dental side effects after taking Suboxone, you should seek legal remedies. Doing so ensures you receive the rightful compensation for the harm and financial losses. When seeking redress for defective products, you must join a mass tort lawsuit for easier access to court processes. Based on this, you are better off working closely with an experienced product liability attorney.
At Consumer Alert Now, you work with skilled and experienced attorneys who understand the legal principles applicable to product liability cases. We aim to provide quality legal services to help you recover after suffering serious losses and medical risks from a defective product. Our services are available to aggrieved parties throughout California, and you can contact us for more information about Suboxone lawsuits at 800-511-0747.
