Family issues warning as son dies after taking highly addictive over-the-counter supplement: ‘The government doesn't step in'
On the day Jordan McKibban, 37, died in 2022, he reportedly mixed kratom with his lemonade, according to his mother, Pam Mauldin, who spoke to the New York Post.
Kratom is marketed as an "all-natural" supplement that can help reduce pain, anxiety, and depression, among other ailments. For some individuals who are wary of typical pharmaceutical medicines — as McKibban reportedly was — kratom can be an attractive alternative.
Mauldin found her son unconscious in his room after he drank the kratom-lemonade mixture. She attempted CPR, but could not revive him.
'I've lost my son. I've lost my grandchildren that I could have had, I've lost watching him walk down that aisle, watching him have a life that I get to watch with my other kids. I've lost enjoying these years with him,' she told the New York Post.
After his death, an autopsy found that McKibban death was caused by mitragynine, which is found in ktraom.
Kratom is made from a Southeast Asian plant and can act as a stimulant when taken in lower doses and a sedative when taken at higher doses.
The substance can be bought from online retailers and in stores legally. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration notes that kratom hasn't been shown to be safe or effective at treating any medical conditions.
The agency has described it as a "drug of concern."
Despite its open availability, national poison control centers have documented 1,807 calls about kratom exposure between 2011 and 2017, and the calls are becoming more frequent, according to Dr Michael Greco, who spoke to the New York Post.
He warned that kratom use can, in some people, cause them to experience agitation and "sometimes even psychosis."
However, kratom deaths are rare.
In McKibban's situation, he was told that he could not overdose on the substance, and that he would simply vomit if he took too much, according to his mother. She noted that her son's kratom bags had no instructions on them or dosage suggestions.
'There have been hundreds of people killed from this, and they don't pull it. The government doesn't step in,' she said.
That may be changing. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F Kennedy Jr announced in late July that he plans to crack down on kratom.
'I became an addict because [heroin] was so available, but I had to go to the South Bronx or the Lower East Side. But now you can go to any gas station,' Kennedy told reporters on July 29 while discussing the substance. 'They're marketing them to children: They're gummy bears, they're bright colors, they're candy-flavored. This is really a sinister, sinister industry.'
He was referring to a reportedly more addictive and possibly more dangerous offshoot of kratom called 7-hydroxymitragynine.
Dr Robert Levy, an addiction and family doctor, told the New York Post that the substance can have similar effects to opioids.
'There's always been concern around kratom because if you take enough of it, kratom does act like an opioid, and people can become addicted to it and have withdrawal from it and overdose on it and ruin their lives on it, like anybody else that has a substance use disorder,' Levy said.
He said the offshoot product that is "much more addicting and much more problematic" has infiltrated the market, and many consumers don't know the difference.
The FDA recently recommended 7-hydroxymitragynine be classified as an illicit substance.
'7-OH is an opioid that can be more potent than morphine,' FDA Commissioner Marty Makary, said in a press release. 'We need regulation and public education to prevent another wave of the opioid epidemic.'
Levy recommended that parents talk to their children or loved ones about the substance and remind them that just because something is "all-natural" and plant-derived does not mean it's safe for consumption.
"Arsenic is also from a plant," he noted.
He advised that anyone with a family member struggling with substance abuse of any kind to seek out available resources and treatment options.
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