TUESDAY, Aug. 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Family of mother of four who collapsed and died while making breakfast awarded $11 million in death lawsuit unjustified.
The cause of death for 39-year-old Krystal Talavera involved an opioid-like plant known as kratom. Talavera was taking kratom to manage pain, NBC News reported. The lawsuit alleged that the herb’s distributor, Grow LLC, marketed the product as an all-natural supplement.
Talavera, who lived in Florida, died in June 2021. Her death was due to “acute mitragynine poisoning,” according to the Palm Beach County coroner. Mitragynine is one of the two main chemical compounds found in kratom, NBC News reported. At high concentrations, the substance can cause sedation, nausea, vomiting, dependence, breathing difficulties and death.
Kratom does not have approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration, but is sold online and in convenience stores. NBC News reported. Some states have banned it. The FDA has warned of the risk of liver toxicity and seizures when taking it.
“Most kratom users don’t realize how unregulated it is every time they use it,” said Peter Grinspoon, MD, a primary care physician and cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. NBC News. “At the same time, I think it’s really sad to see how desperate people are because we’re undertreating chronic pain and addiction and a lot of that comes from people’s sheer desperation.”
The science on the benefits of kratom is inconclusive, and the lack of regulation also means that the substance as currently sold may be contaminated, NBC News reported. In 2016, the United States Drug Enforcement Agency even attempted to temporarily ban the substance.
No strong scientific evidence proves that kratom is effective for pain relief or better at treating substance use disorders than current medications, said C. Michael White, MD, chief of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut at Storrs. NBC News. Although kratom can help relieve pain for people addicted to opioids, other people with chronic pain should avoid it because it is addictive, White noted.
About 1.7 million people ages 12 and older used kratom in 2021, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Most did not have life-threatening side effects or die. About 80 percent of kratom-related deaths involved a history of drug abuse, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. report.
