If you or someone you love are struggling with an opioid addiction and your doctor prescribed suboxone, you could be eligible for a suboxone settlement. Although the drug helps manage opioid withdrawals and reduces your chances of a relapse, it could be the reason you have experienced significant tooth decay. Indivior, the manufacturer of suboxone, is facing lawsuits from individuals and families that have been affected by the drug’s considerable side effects. If you have been affected, it helps to learn how much you can recover from a settlement and how to prepare your claim for a successful resolution.

If you are among the people who have been affected by suboxone, you could be struggling to afford treatment after severe tooth decay. You could also be fighting endless dental problems and experiencing emotional distress even as you incur additional financial losses due to the drug’s side effects. You can consult a competent personal injury attorney for guidance and assistance in negotiating a favorable suboxone settlement. An attorney will also answer any questions regarding suboxone settlements and lawsuits.

Why You Should Consider a Suboxone Settlement

People struggling with a drug addiction are sometimes looking for a solution that will help them manage the addiction, handle the unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, and keep the urge for a fix at bay. When a drug manufacturing company comes up with a solution, individuals and families rush to try it for its benefits without considering the adverse side effects. Manufacturers are legally required to disclose all the information about any product or drug they bring to the market to ensure that consumers make informed decisions. If the drug has any side effects, consumers have the right to know before consuming it.

Thus, a drug manufacturer must list all potential drug side effects in clear language to ensure consumers are aware of the side effects and can make proper decisions. If this does not happen, a manufacturer is liable for all resulting damages if individuals and families are affected by a faulty or harmful drug. Failure to report is one of the reasons why Indivior is facing lawsuits after it was discovered that Suboxone, a product believed to help opioid addicts, is affecting their oral health.

Medical reports indicate that suboxone has elements that cause tooth decay. Exposure to the drug causes tooth damage due to enamel erosion. The drug’s effects on the teeth start slowly and worsen with each use. Thus, people who have prolonged exposure to the drug have suffered more side effects than those who have used it once or twice. Tooth decay is a grave problem that could eventually result in tooth loss and the need for expensive and extensive dental restoration. Here are some of the ways suboxone causes tooth decay:

It Causes a Dry Mouth

The human mouth functions better when it produces adequate saliva. Saliva performs several roles in the mouth, including creating a protective barrier on natural teeth, essential in protecting the teeth from harmful oral bacteria. Sadly, some medications like suboxone dry the mouth, leaving teeth at risk of decay by cavity-causing bacteria. Suboxone affects saliva production in the mouth, exposing the consumer to severe oral and dental problems like tooth decay.

Adequate saliva neutralizes acids in your mouth. The acid in your foods can cause enamel erosion, exposing the inner structures of your teeth to staining and cavity-causing bacteria. Saliva also contains the right minerals to remineralize the enamel, causing it to remain sturdy and difficult to attack by harmful bacteria. Saliva also helps flush out remaining foods in the mouth. If these foods linger in the mouth for long, they combine with harmful bacteria to produce a toxic acid that erodes enamel. The acid also causes a buildup on your gums and teeth, which is the leading cause of tooth decay and gum disease.

If a drug like suboxone impacts saliva production, your risk of tooth decay increases significantly.

It Increases Your Mouth’s Acidic PH

Suboxone is highly acidic, which increases the acidity levels in your mouth. This is not good for your teeth as it causes enamel erosion. The enamel is the outer substantial part of a natural tooth. It protects the tooth’s underlying structures. If it erodes, the sensitive inner structures of the tooth are exposed to harmful cavity-causing bacteria.

Suboxone Increases Sugar Cravings

Sugary and starchy foods are the leading causes of tooth decay. Dentists advise against overconsumption of these foods, as they quickly trigger cavity-causing bacteria. This means you must control your sugar cravings to protect your teeth. Sadly, suboxone has been proven to increase sugar cravings, putting its consumers at a higher risk of cavities.

Poor Oral Hygiene

Remember that suboxone users are those struggling with opioid addiction. These people have difficulties practicing good oral hygiene habits. This alone puts them at risk of cavities. This risk increases with the drug’s harmful side effects, including increasing the mouth’s acidic PH and the risk of enamel erosion.

What You Can Get From a Suboxone Settlement

Suppose you have used suboxone to manage your opioid withdrawal symptoms and reduce the risk of relapse but suffered damage to your teeth. In that case, you should talk to a skilled personal injury attorney. Through your attorney, you can establish your eligibility for suboxone settlement. A competent attorney can determine when you started developing tooth decay to ascertain whether it was due to suboxone or other factors. If you are sure that suboxone affected your oral health or increased your risk of cavities, you can start the necessary legal processes to recover compensation for all your damages.

Personal injury laws in Florida allow consumers to file for compensation for all the damages incurred after consuming a harmful product, including a drug. Suboxone manufacturers have been accused of failing to inform consumers of the severe side effects of the drugs, especially the possible impact on their oral health. People affected can file for compensation through their attorney to recover their damages.

What you can receive after a suboxone settlement depends on the economic worth of your damages. Thus, you need the assistance of a skilled attorney to determine your exact damages and include them in your claim. A competent attorney will consider your circumstances and the extent of tooth decay you suffered, including how the decay affected your lifestyle, career, quality of life, and general health. Thus, telling the exact amount you could recover after a successful lawsuit is difficult. The judge will consider the specifics of your claim and evidence to award the damages you deserve.

Here are some of the economic damages you can include in your claim:

  • The cost of extensive dental repair, including oral surgery, cavity fillings, implants, or dentures
  • Other costs related to seeking medical treatment for tooth decay, including visiting costs to the dentist’s office and appointment costs
  • Lost wages on the days you skip work to seek treatment or to recover from an extensive dental repair
  • Future treatment costs for dental-related issues you have incurred after using suboxone

Your attorney will help you list all your economic damages, depending on what you have been treated for and the kind of treatment you expect after the settlement.

You could also be eligible for non-economic damages. Although these do not constitute a direct loss of money, they are as critical as the economic damages. Non-economic damages represent the intangible losses from a suboxone-related oral or dental problem. For example, you could be eligible for compensation for the suffering and pain you experience due to dental decay and its related complications. The suffering could be due to the underlying pain or sensitivity, the inability to speak and concentrate on your work, and the discomfort you endure throughout the treatment period.

Remember that dental decay also affects your facial appearance and confidence. It affects how you socialize. If you are in pain, it is difficult to enjoy some activities that bring joy to your life. Typically, people battling tooth decay are withdrawn due to the discomfort and shame they experience. The changes in the appearance of your teeth will also affect your confidence for fear of being judged.

Some of these issues could result in more serious damages, like a lost promotion opportunity in your workplace. If the resulting dental problems affect your confidence and performance in your workplace, you could miss out on such opportunities even if you previously qualified for them. Continuous absenteeism as you seek treatment could also affect your job performance. If you subsequently lose your job, you deserve compensation for the resulting emotional and mental issues, including anxiety and depression.

You deserve compensation for these, too. A skilled personal injury attorney will ensure you include all your noneconomic damages in your claim. They will also present and defend your claim in court to ensure you receive total compensation for all your damages.

Factors that Can Affect Your Suboxone Settlement

In personal injury cases, the plaintiff bears the burden of proving that an individual or company was negligent in causing their damages. Thus, you must establish a solid case against Indivior to receive adequate damages through your claim. You can seek the assistance of a skilled personal injury attorney to ensure you have all the information you need to prove your case and compel the judge to award all your damages.

To begin with, you must demonstrate that the company owed you a duty of care. Indivior has a duty of care to produce drugs and other products that will be safe for and serve the purpose consumers are buying them. You must also demonstrate that the company breached that duty of care by producing a harmful drug or failing to inform consumers of its adverse side effects. Manufacturers must carefully create and bring safe products to the market. If a product is highly effective but has unpleasant side effects, consumers must be informed about it for effective decision-making.

You must also demonstrate that the drug is the direct cause of your tooth decay and other related issues. Additionally, establish the damages the drug has caused in your life, including financial costs and other non-economic damages like pain and suffering. You must include all this information, including the cost of your damages, in your claim for the court to award your damages.

Gather and present evidence in court to support your claim. For example, you could include medical reports to show when your dental problems started and how bad they have been since you began consuming suboxone. You could also call in witnesses and medical experts to ascertain that suboxone is the direct cause of your dental problems. Icil court judges rely on evidence to decide civil lawsuits. Since the defendant will also have evidence to counter your claim, your evidence must be solid to ensure the case is ruled in your favor.

You can research the company’s previous indiscretions to have an upper hand in the case. This could also help if your attorney wants to fight for punitive damages. If the company has been accused of negligence or other indiscretions, these accusations can strengthen your case and improve your chances of recovering the compensation you deserve. An experienced attorney will not leave anything to chance when fighting for your compensation.

Find a Skilled Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

If you or someone you know suffered from tooth decay after using suboxone to manage your opioid withdrawal symptoms in Jacksonville, you need the guidance of a skilled attorney to pursue compensation through a suboxone settlement. Indivior is currently facing lawsuits from individuals and families who were affected by the drug due to the company’s negligence. A skilled personal injury attorney will bring you up to speed on the latest developments about suboxone settlements and prepare you to file your case within the given deadlines.

At Jacksonville Personal Injury Attorney, we have the skills and experience to handle all personal injury cases. We are familiar with suboxone settlement cases and could help you build a solid case to pursue the compensation you deserve. Call us at 904-800-7557 to learn more about your case and our services.