Young men dead from taking popular ‘all-natural’ supplement
In this DML Report…
Pam Mauldin of Washington state reported that her 37-year-old son, Jordan McKibban, died in April 2022 from a mitragynine overdose after mixing powdered kratom into his lemonade following work at an organic food distributor. McKibban, who avoided ibuprofen for arthritis and was described as health-conscious, collapsed in his bathroom; Mauldin performed CPR, but an autopsy confirmed the kratom compound as the cause. She stated, “I’ve lost my son. I’ve lost my grandchildren that I could have had, I’ve lost watching him walk down that aisle,” and noted the product lacked warnings, with McKibban believing overdose was impossible. Mauldin has filed a wrongful death lawsuit alleging kratom is 63 times deadlier than other natural products. Similarly, Jennifer Young of Columbus, Ohio, said her 27-year-old son, Johnny Loring, a delivery driver who used kratom for anxiety, died last spring during a family mushroom hunting trip from deadly levels of mitragynine combined with gabapentin, per toxicology reports. Loring experienced prior seizures not linked to kratom by medical staff; Young found 20 packs in his room post-death and described family impacts including her depression and a sibling's panic attacks, stating, “Our house is silent now. The void of Johnny is just loud.” She is also pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit.
Kratom, sourced from a Southeast Asian plant, is sold as powders, gummies, drinks, and capsules at gas stations and online, marketed for pain, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and opioid withdrawal relief. It acts as a stimulant at low doses and sedative at high doses, with mitragynine functioning like an opioid, potentially causing addiction, withdrawal, and overdose. A more potent variant, 7-hydroxymitragynine (7-OH), is highly addictive and comparable to morphine. Side effects include agitation, psychosis, sweating, dizziness, high blood pressure, elevated heart rate, drowsiness, and unresponsiveness, according to Florida emergency physician Dr. Michael Greco. University of Minnesota addiction specialist Dr. Robert Levy explained, “Kratom does act like an opioid, and people can become addicted to it and have withdrawal from it and overdose on it,” warning that “all-natural” does not mean safe and advising discussions on its risks, especially for those with substance issues.
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National poison control centers logged 1,807 kratom exposure calls from 2011 to 2017, with numbers increasing since, though documented deaths are rare and often involve other substances like fentanyl; hundreds of fatalities have been reported overall. The FDA states kratom is not lawfully marketed as a drug, supplement, or food additive in the U.S., with no required label accuracy, and recently recommended classifying 7-OH as illicit. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called for regulation and education to prevent an opioid-like epidemic. Mauldin criticized government inaction compared to food recalls, while both mothers seek accountability through lawsuits, and Levy urged seeking treatment for substance disorders, noting effective help is available.