Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) Film

The Suboxone (Buprenorphine/Naloxone) Film litigation, centralized before Judge J. Philip Calabrese in the Northern District of Ohio in February 2024, consolidates claims that the sublingual film formulation of this opioid-use-disorder treatment causes severe tooth decay and other dental injury from direct, prolonged contact with teeth, allegedly without adequate warning to patients and prescribers for years after the product's introduction. With 1,827 actions pending, the docket is in an active case-identification phase: the court has ordered a full census of tooth-decay claims, giving plaintiffs 270 days to complete census forms that will help the court identify representative cases for early trial selection, with cases filed after October 7, 2024 excluded from this initial round.

For a funder, a census phase like this one is a distinct and useful signal — it means the court is actively building the structured case inventory that a bellwether program requires, which typically precedes case-specific discovery, expert-report exchanges, and eventual trial selection. That is meaningfully further along than a docket still litigating its master complaint, even though no bellwether trial date has been set yet. Underwriting today should treat the census outcome as the next concrete milestone to watch, since it will determine which claims move forward first and on what documentation basis.

Dental treatment records — extractions, restorative work, and any reconstructive dental care — are central to both damages and medical-lien exposure in these claims, and a firm holding Suboxone tooth-decay claims should prioritize complete dental documentation when assembling a portfolio for financing. Given the census process now underway, portfolio finance structured around claim vintage (pre- versus post-October 2024 filing) is a sensible way to segment a book for underwriting purposes. Criterica Capital's mass tort finance product applies to claims in this docket, and a structural brief on the census and bellwether process is available through Criterica Intelligence.

Pre-settlement funding is a non-recourse purchase of a portion of the proceeds of a pending legal claim — not a loan. If the case does not result in a recovery, nothing is owed. Rates, fees, and repayment terms are disclosed in full in the funding agreement, which the applicant’s attorney reviews before signing. Availability and terms vary by state.