Legal Herbal Supplement Kills 2 In Chester County: Coroner

CHESTER COUNTY, PA — Two people in Chester County have recently died after overdosing on a herbal supplement that is currently legal in Pennsylvania, authorities announced this week. The Chester County Coroner’s Office has confirmed the two deaths are attributed to mitragynine toxicity from a herbal supplement known as kratom.

Ryan Jones of Caln Township died on April 30, and his cause of death has been determined to be mitragynine toxicity with hypertensive cardiovascular disease as a contributing condition. Caleb Jonathan Sturgis of West Bradford Township died on June 27 of acute mitragynine intoxication, Chester County Coroner Christina VandePol said.

Both deaths were deemed accidental, according to the coroner.

Mitragynine is the predominant alkaloid produced by the southeastern Asian plant Mitragyna speciosa, which is commonly known as kratom. It is legal to buy and use in Pennsylvania and is unregulated, although both the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) have expressed concerns.

“Unfortunately, there is little research available on kratom. These deaths obviously raise our level of concern, however, and I encourage health care providers to be on the alert for its use in our community," VandePol said.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse states that kratom is "easy to order on the internet."

It also goes by the following names: Biak; Ketum; Kakuam; Ithang; and Thom.

"In recent years, some people have used kratom as an herbal alternative to medical treatment in attempts to control withdrawal symptoms and cravings caused by addiction to opioids or to other addictive substances such as alcohol. There is no scientific evidence that kratom is effective or safe for this purpose," the National Institute on Drug Absuse says on its website.

In May, the FDA issued a warning to consumers about the product, advising against using kratom or its psychoactive compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.

“Despite our warnings that no kratom product is safe, we continue to find companies selling kratom and doing so with deceptive medical claims for which there’s no reliable scientific proof to support their use,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in the May statement. “As we work to combat the opioid epidemic, we cannot allow unscrupulous vendors to take advantage of consumers by selling products with unsubstantiated claims that they can treat opioid addiction."

Image of the drug Kratom. The herbal supplement is a psychoactive drug derived from the leaves of the kratom plant. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)