TUESDAY, Aug. 1, 2023 (Healthday News) – The family of a mother of four children who died after collapsing while cooking breakfast has won an $11 million judgment in wrongful death lawsuit.
An opioid-like herb known as kratom was implicated in the death of Crystal Talavera, 39.
The lawsuit alleged that the herb’s distributor, Grow LLC, marketed the product as a natural supplement. NBC News report.
“For a million years, she never expected to be killed by Kratom.” Tamara WilliamsA lawyer representing Talavera’s estate said. NBC News.
Talavera, who lived in Florida, died in June 2021. Her cause of death was “acute mitragynine intoxication,” according to the Palm Beach County coroner. Mitraginine is her one of the two main compounds found in kratom. NBC News report.
At high concentrations, this substance can cause sedation, nausea, vomiting, intoxication, respiratory distress and death.
Kratom is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but it is sold online and in convenience stores. NBC News report. Some states forbid it. The FDA warns of the risk of liver toxicity and seizures when ingested.
“Most kratom users don’t realize how unregulated it is when they’re using it.” Dr. Peter GrinspoonA primary care physician and cannabis expert at Massachusetts General Hospital said: NBC News.
“At the same time, chronic pain and addiction are being treated poorly, and much of it stems from the sheer desperation of people, so I think it’s really sad how desperate people are,” he said. said. Added.
Talavera was taking Kratom for pain management. NBC News report.
The science on kratom’s benefits is inconclusive, and the lack of regulation also means that the material currently being sold may be contaminated. NBC News report. In 2016, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration also tried to temporarily ban the substance.
Dr. C. Michael White, dean of the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy, said there is no solid scientific evidence to prove that kratom is effective at pain relief or superior to current drugs in treating substance use disorders. . NBC News.
“People will say, ‘Hey, this is really great for my pain,'” White said.
Kratom may help relieve pain in opioid addicts, but people with chronic pain should avoid it because it is addictive, White said.
“There are some cases where people got so addicted to kratom that they actually needed suboxone to get out of it. It’s what we use to get people off heroin and oxycodone.” Grinspoon added.
Grinspoon also wondered if Kratom was the sole cause of Talavera’s death.
“There are a lot of people using it, and these horror stories are few, but they’re pretty bad,” Grinspoon said.
By 2021, about 1.7 million people over the age of 12 will use kratom, according to the company. National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Most did not cause life-threatening side effects or death.
About 80% of kratom-related deaths involved a history of substance abuse, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report.
Mr. Williams said Talavera’s family wants increased regulatory oversight of kratom and a block on its sale until the U.S. regulates it.
Mac HaddowA senior public policy fellow at the American Kratom Association, he said his group also wants more regulation. NBC News report.
“The FDA’s irresponsible war on kratom and FDA’s refusal to enforce manufacturing and marketing standards for the product has put consumers at unacceptable risk in marketing unsafe kratom products,” Haddow said. Stated.
For more information
The National Institute on Drug Abuse has more information. Kratom.
sauce: NBC News
