Stay-at-home mom Bari Sinoyannis thought she was buying a natural, plant-based alternative to pain relievers when she picked up kratom powder at a North Carolina smoke shop in 2022. “The fact that it’s labeled as a natural alternative to pain medication was why I fell for it. I was like, you know what? I’m gonna … Read more
Just weeks prior to his death, Brandon Clarke was arrested for possession of kratom. The NBA player allegedly had nearly half a pound of it. But what exactly is it? According to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who’s launching a federal crackdown on 7-OH — the synthetic byproduct of the kratom … Read more
Time to crack down? The plant that’s been hailed as a potential treatment for opioid use disorder has also been behind a staggering 6,500% increase in poison center calls nationwide over the last decade and a half. Kratom trees are native to parts of Southeast Asia, and their leaves have grabbed the attention of the … Read more
The root of the problem? Marketed to the sober-curious as a squeaky-clean swap for alcohol, one drink additive is the culprit behind a massive spike in poison reports between 2011 and 2025, according to a new study out of the University of Virginia. Kava, a tropical plant native to the Pacific Islands, has been used … Read more
You might want to leaf this drug alone. A new study found that calls to the nation’s poison centers about a natural supplement marketed as an energy booster, mood lifter and pain reliever have soared more than 1,200% over the past decade. Hospitalizations, and even some deaths, have climbed in tandem, leaving health experts sounding … Read more
Vape shops are popping up in every neighborhood in America, but few people — even doctors — know that many of these shops are selling a dangerous new opioid. It’s concentrated 7-OH, a synthetic byproduct of the kratom plant that binds strongly to the body’s opioid receptors — making it up to 13 times more … Read more
As the U.S. weathers its fourth wave of the opioid epidemic crisis, more people are turning to non-opioids — including a natural remedy known as kratom — to combat their pain. Yet medical examiners and coroners have found that kratom caused 1.5% to 1.7% of overdose deaths between Jan. 2020 and Dec. 2022. That’s according to … Read more
Krystal Talavera thought she was drinking a healthy supplement to her morning coffee. But the supplement she was taking, kratom, killed the registered nurse, a mother of four, from respiratory failure brought on by opioid-like effects. Her death is the latest involving the herbal substance, which is widely sold at gas stations and online despite … Read more