Suboxone Film Makers Get Tooth Decay Litigation Claims Trimmed

Opioid dependence drug makers convinced a federal judge that a design defect claim related to allegations the medication caused tooth decay were preempted by federal drug approval law.

After Suboxone film was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the drugmakers would’ve had to get the agency’s approval before changing the product’s formulation, the US District Court for the Northern District of Ohio said Dec. 31. The plaintiff’s claims essentially asked the drugmakers to stop selling the medication, “something that preemption doctrine does not allow,” Judge J. Philip Calabrese said.

Design defect claims related to the drug before it ...