It’s no secret that the Food Drug Administration isn’t a fan of kratom, a popular herb purported to help people with digestive problems, chronic pain, and most prominently, opioid withdrawal. So I can only assume the FDA got a small bit of pleasure when it announced it would oversee the destruction of a “large volume” of kratom after an outbreak of Salmonella was linked to the supplement.
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On [February 20], the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that at least 28 people across 20 states have become infected with a similar strain of Salmonella since October. None have died, but 11 have been hospitalized. Eight of the 11 victims interviewed by the CDC so far said they took kratom shortly before they became sick, either as a pill, powder, or mixed in tea.
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Kartom’s legal status is in a grey area. Some research has found the drug to be chemically similar to to opioids like morphine. While the plant isn’t illegal to consume, the Drug Enforcement Administration attempted to regulate it in 2016 by temporarily placing on its list of controlled substances as a Schedule I drug.
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The FDA would not disclose on the record, however, how these latest recalled kratom products were destroyed. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb does seem to be using the Salmonella outbreak as an incentive to encourage other producers into dropping their line of kratom products.
Read full, original post: FDA Oversees Kratom Purge After Salmonella Outbreak
