What Is Kratom?
Kratom is a tropical plant native to Southeast Asia that comes from the tree Mitragyna speciosa, whose leaves have been used historically in parts of Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia for their stimulant and pain-relieving effects.
The plant’s kratom leaves contain several psychoactive compounds, most notably mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, which can interact with the body’s opioid receptors and produce opioid-like effects at higher doses.
In the United States, these products are widely available and have become a growing part of the kratom industry, appearing in powders, capsules, drink shots, and concentrated kratom extracts sold online and in retail stores.
Many consumers are introduced to these products after they are marketed as a natural alternative for energy, pain relief, mood support, or assistance with opioid addiction and other substance-related conditions.
Because kratom’s psychoactive compounds act on the same biological systems involved in opioid signaling, researchers and regulators continue to study how these substances affect the brain and body.
Despite its growing popularity, federal health authorities state that kratom has no approved medical uses and that its safety and long-term health effects remain under investigation.
Common forms of kratom products include:
- Raw kratom leaves, which may be dried, crushed, or brewed into tea
- Powdered kratom, often packaged in capsules or mixed into drinks
- Kratom extracts, concentrated liquid or resin products with higher alkaloid levels
- Commercial beverages or “shots” containing kratom compounds
- Tablets, gummies, or herbal blends sold alongside other botanical products
Historically, kratom leaves were used in local labor and folk-medicine settings, but the American commercial market has transformed that traditional use into a national retail category with far less consistency in dose, composition, and labeling.
Federal regulators and researchers now focus not only on the plant itself, but also on how psychoactive compounds are concentrated, how products are promoted to consumers, and whether sellers blur the line between a raw botanical and a drug-like product.
How and Where Kratom Is Marketed And Sold
Kratom products are widely available across the United States through smoke shops, convenience stores, gas stations, specialty supplement retailers, and online marketplaces, often sold alongside other herbal supplements.
The modern kratom market includes powders, capsules, beverages, and concentrated extracts, and many consumers encounter these products after seeing claims about potential health benefits related to energy, mood, discomfort, or support while taking kratom.
Despite the scale of the market, kratom remains largely outside traditional pharmaceutical oversight, and there are no federal product safety regulations that specifically approve kratom as a drug or establish standardized dosing requirements.
Federal agencies have stated that some companies distribute kratom with claims that position it as a treatment for pain, opioid dependence, or other medical conditions, even though those uses have not been approved.
In response, regulators have issued warnings to certain kratom manufacturers and kratom sellers for marketing products with unverified medical claims or without adequate safety disclosures.
Common places where kratom products are sold include:
- Smoke shops and vape stores
- Gas stations and convenience stores
- Specialty supplement and nutrition retailers
- Online marketplaces and direct-to-consumer websites
- Head shops and alternative wellness stores
- Some herbal product and botanical retailers
Kratom Powder, Extracts, Shots, And 7-OH Products
Kratom products are sold in several forms, ranging from traditional plant material to highly concentrated derivatives with different potency levels and chemical profiles.
The most common form is kratom powder, which is made by drying and grinding kratom leaves from the Mitragyna speciosa tree and is typically consumed in capsules, mixed into drinks, or brewed as tea.
As the market expanded in the United States, manufacturers began producing kratom extracts, which concentrate the plant’s active alkaloids and may contain significantly higher levels of mitragynine or related compounds than raw leaf products.
These extracts are often sold in small bottles known as “shots,” liquid tinctures, or other concentrated forms designed to deliver stronger effects in smaller amounts.
In recent years, some companies have also introduced products built around 7-hydroxymitragynine, commonly called 7-OH, a powerful alkaloid found naturally in kratom in very small amounts but sometimes concentrated or added to commercial formulations.
Health agencies have warned that certain 7-OH products, including tablets, gummies, drink mixes, and shots, may present greater safety risks because they contain concentrated levels of a compound that acts strongly on opioid receptors.
As a result, regulators and researchers increasingly distinguish between traditional kratom leaf products and newer concentrated extracts or 7-OH formulations when evaluating safety concerns, overdose reports, and potential regulatory action.
The Problem With Unregulated Kratom Products
One of the central concerns surrounding kratom is that many products are sold in a largely unregulated market that operates outside the oversight applied to prescription drugs or conventional medications.
Federal regulators have stated that kratom is not lawfully marketed in the United States as a drug or as part of dietary supplements because there is not enough evidence to demonstrate that the ingredient is safe for consumer use.
Some kratom manufacturers have been found to mislabel their products and certain products have even been found to contain heavy metals and other contaminants.
Despite that regulatory gap, kratom manufacturers and distributors continue to sell powders, capsules, extracts, and beverages nationwide, often with little consistency in labeling, dosage instructions, or ingredient disclosure.
Researchers and public health agencies also note that some individuals report using kratom to manage opioid use disorder or withdrawal symptoms, even though federal authorities say there are no approved medical uses for the substance.
At the same time, health agencies have documented reports of dependency, drug abuse patterns, and adverse events such as kratom overdose, prompting ongoing scrutiny by regulators and law enforcement.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) currently classifies kratom as a “Drug and Chemical of Concern,” reflecting continuing debate over whether additional federal controls may be necessary.
Risks associated with the lack of regulation in the kratom market include:
- Inconsistent potency or alkaloid concentrations across different products
- Products marketed as dietary supplements without verified safety data
- Limited manufacturing oversight for kratom manufacturers and distributors
- Inadequate labeling about dosing, interactions, or potential side effects
- Reports of dependency, drug abuse, and kratom overdose in some users
- Confusion among consumers about whether kratom can treat opioid use disorder or other medical conditions
Kratom Organ Damage and Other Reported Injuries
Reports from federal agencies and published safety reviews show that kratom has been linked to severe health risks involving multiple organ systems, not just isolated side effects.
The FDA has identified adverse effects associated with kratom use that include liver toxicity, cardiovascular toxicity, seizures, gastrointestinal distress, respiratory depression, addiction, withdrawal symptoms, and death.
Public-health and research sources also note that some people use kratom in an attempt to manage pain, substance dependence, or mental health problems, even though no kratom product is approved for those purposes in the United States.
The clinical picture can become more complicated when kratom is taken with other drugs, because federal data on overdose deaths has found that kratom was often detected alongside multiple other substances.
Reported complications extend beyond dependency concerns and can include physical dependence, high blood pressure, neurological symptoms, and medically serious toxic reactions that require emergency treatment.
Some cases described in agency reports and toxicology findings involve even fatal overdoses, which is why litigation and medical review in these matters often focus on product type, dose, co-exposures, and the timing of symptoms before injury or death.
Liver Damage and Hepatotoxicity
Liver injury is one of the most frequently cited serious complications associated with kratom in federal safety warnings and published medical literature, with the FDA specifically identifying liver toxicity as a known adverse event linked to kratom use.
Published reviews and case reports describe kratom-associated hepatotoxicity as a form of drug-induced liver injury that can appear after regular use over days or weeks, sometimes with jaundice, dark urine, abdominal pain, itching, fatigue, nausea, and sharply elevated liver enzymes.
Researchers have also noted that kratom liver injury may present with cholestatic or mixed patterns of injury, and in rare cases the reported damage has been severe enough to raise concern for acute liver failure or the need for transplant-level care.
Common symptoms reported in kratom-related liver injury cases include:
- Jaundice or yellowing of the skin and eyes
- Dark urine and pale stools
- Abdominal pain, nausea, and loss of appetite
- Elevated liver enzymes and bilirubin on laboratory testing
- Cholestatic or mixed-pattern drug-induced liver injury
- Improvement after the product is stopped, which physicians may consider when evaluating causation
Kidney Damage and Renal Complications
Kidney complications are reported less often than liver injury in the kratom literature, but published case reports and recent reviews still describe renal effects as part of the broader pattern of organ toxicity linked to kratom exposure.
A 2025 review of human case reports identified reported kidney effects among the organ systems involved in acute adverse events, while also noting that many severe cases included confounding substances or incomplete toxicology data.
The medical literature also includes individual cases of acute kidney injury and renal insufficiency after kratom use, sometimes alongside dehydration, rhabdomyolysis, cholestatic liver injury, or multiorgan dysfunction rather than isolated kidney damage alone.
Public-facing guidance likewise states that rare but serious effects reported in people who use kratom include cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, and psychiatric complications, which is consistent with the way renal problems often appear as part of a wider toxic presentation.
Some reported renal presentations have involved elevated creatinine, reduced kidney function, flank pain, electrolyte abnormalities, and acute kidney injury severe enough to require hospital-level care.
Because the current evidence base is still driven largely by case reports rather than large controlled studies, clinicians generally evaluate renal complications in the full context of dose, product type, co-exposures, dehydration, muscle breakdown, and other signs of systemic toxicity.
Reported renal findings in kratom-related cases have included:
- Acute kidney injury
- Renal insufficiency
- Elevated creatinine and urea
- Flank pain
- Electrolyte abnormalities, including hyperkalemia
- Kidney injury occurring with rhabdomyolysis or multiorgan dysfunction
Heart Problems, Seizures, and Neurological Events
Kratom has been associated in safety reports and published reviews with cardiovascular and neurological complications, including tachycardia, hypertension, QTc prolongation, ventricular arrhythmia, seizures, and altered mental status.
The FDA continues to warn consumers about serious adverse events linked to kratom, specifically including seizures, while a 2021 review of cardiotoxicity literature found repeated reports of increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, conduction abnormalities, and abnormal heart rhythms in some users.
Recent reviews of human case reports also describe brain-related findings such as seizure activity, lethargy, confusion, loss of consciousness, and cerebral edema in some severe cases, although the quality of the evidence varies and many reports involve incomplete toxicology or co-exposure to other substances.
A 2025 Frontiers review of seizure reports identified 20 individuals described in case reports or case series after kratom use, but the authors concluded the evidence was not strong enough to prove kratom alone causes seizures because medical records were inconsistent and dose-response data were often missing.
Cardiovascular and neurological symptoms can appear together in a broader toxic presentation, especially when concentrated products, high doses, or additional substances are involved.
Clinicians evaluating these events generally look at product type, timing of exposure, blood pressure and rhythm findings, toxicology, and the presence of other drugs or medical conditions that could contribute to the episode.
Reported heart and neurological complications in kratom-related cases have included:
- Tachycardia
- High blood pressure
- Palpitations
- QTc prolongation
- Ventricular arrhythmia
- Seizures
- Confusion or altered mental status
- Loss of consciousness or lethargy
Respiratory Depression, Overdose, and Medical Emergencies
Respiratory depression, namely kratom-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), is one of the most medically serious complications described in kratom-related safety warnings, because slowed or impaired breathing can develop in severe intoxication and progress to a life-threatening emergency.
The FDA states that serious adverse events linked to kratom include respiratory depression and that deaths have been associated with kratom use in some cases confirmed by medical examiner or toxicology findings.
Overdose reports involving kratom often present with a broader toxic picture rather than one isolated symptom, and emergency findings may include unresponsiveness, profound sedation, vomiting, rapid heart rate, seizures, or depressed breathing.
CDC data on kratom-positive overdose deaths found that kratom was most often detected with multiple other substances, which means many fatal cases involve polysubstance exposure rather than kratom alone.
NIDA likewise notes that serious effects reported with kratom include respiratory problems and that only a small number of deaths have been linked to kratom products compared with other drugs, with nearly all of those deaths involving other drugs or contaminants.
Clinicians therefore evaluate suspected kratom overdose in the full context of product type, dose, co-exposures, toxicology, and the timing of symptoms before collapse or emergency treatment.
Reported overdose and emergency features in kratom-related cases have included:
- Respiratory depression or slowed breathing
- Unresponsiveness or loss of consciousness
- Profound sedation
- Seizures
- Vomiting
- Tachycardia
- Need for emergency department care or hospital admission
- Fatal overdose, often with other substances present
Who Qualifies to File a Kratom Lawsuit?
You may qualify to file a kratom lawsuit if you developed a serious medical condition after using a kratom product and there is evidence tying that product to the harm.
Federal regulators continue to warn that kratom has been linked to serious adverse events, including liver toxicity, seizures, substance use disorder, and in rare cases death.
Kratom litigation centers on severe injuries rather than temporary side effects.
People with organ damage, overdose-related complications, hospitalization, long-term impairment, or the death of a family member are usually the most likely to have viable claims.
If you were harmed by kratom, the strength of the case often depends on whether the product can be identified and whether the medical record supports a connection between use and injury.
That may include medical records, toxicology findings, hospital records, product packaging, purchase receipts, or witness statements showing what was taken and when symptoms began.
Product identification matters because some claims involve plain powder, while others involve concentrated extracts or stronger liquid products.
Families may also qualify to bring wrongful death claims when a loved one died after alleged kratom exposure.
In those cases, the person who files is usually determined by state law and may be a spouse, child, parent, or estate representative.
Some existing cases have already been brought against manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, and vendors over alleged failure to protect consumers from unsafe kratom products or inadequate warnings.
Evidence for Kratom-Related Cases
Evidence often determines whether a kratom case can move through the legal process, because serious injury alone is usually not enough without records showing what product was used and what happened afterward.
These cases can involve legal challenges over causation, especially when the product was a concentrated extract, toxicology is incomplete, or other substances were also present.
Medical records, toxicology findings, purchase history, and product labeling can help show both the extent of the injury and the timeline between exposure and symptoms.
Lawyers use that evidence to identify the product, evaluate warning and marketing issues, work with medical experts, and build a case that can withstand scrutiny from manufacturers and insurers.
Important evidence in kratom-related cases may include:
- Hospital and medical records
- Toxicology reports
- Autopsy or medical examiner findings in fatal cases
- Product packaging and labeling
- Receipts, order confirmations, and purchase history
- Photos of the product, bottle, shot, pouch, or capsules
- Remaining product for possible testing
- Statements from treating doctors about the likely cause of injury
- Witness statements about when the product was used and when symptoms began
- Marketing materials or online product pages describing claimed benefits or safety
Damages in Kratom Lawsuits
Damages are the losses a lawsuit seeks to recover after a person suffers injury or death because of a dangerous product.
In kratom cases, damages usually begin with the financial cost of the harm, including medical treatment, hospital care, rehabilitation, and other medical expenses tied to the injury.
They can also include the broader effect the injury has had on the person’s life, such as lost income, physical pain, reduced functioning, or the long-term impact of organ damage or other serious complications.
Experienced attorneys assess damages by reviewing medical records, billing records, employment history, expert opinions, and the day-to-day consequences of the injury so they can present a full picture of what the harm has cost.
That work helps lawyers calculate compensation in a way that reflects both the immediate losses and the future burdens created by a serious kratom-related injury or wrongful death.
Damages in kratom lawsuits may include:
- Past medical expenses
- Future medical expenses
- Costs of medical treatment, hospitalization, and rehabilitation
- Lost wages
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Permanent disability or impairment
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Funeral and burial expenses in wrongful death cases
- Loss of financial support in wrongful death cases
- Loss of companionship or related wrongful death damages, when allowed by state law
Kratom Wrongful Death Lawsuit Claims
Kratom wrongful death lawsuit claims usually allege that a manufacturer, distributor, or seller failed to warn consumers about serious safety risks tied to the product.
Current kratom litigation also includes allegations that some companies misled consumers by presenting kratom as safe, natural, or appropriate for therapeutic use despite reported risks of overdose, organ injury, addiction, and death.
Several lawsuits have been filed against kratom manufacturers and distributors based on those core allegations, including claims that the companies sold dangerous products without adequate warnings or clear safety instructions.
These cases often focus on whether the product’s labeling, marketing, or formulation exposed consumers to dangers they were not properly told about before use.
One of the most notable outcomes came in Washington state, where a jury awarded $2.5 million to the family of Patrick Coyne after finding liability in a kratom wrongful death case involving inadequate warnings and an unreasonably dangerous product.
Reporting on that verdict described it as the first civil trial verdict in the United States brought on behalf of a person killed by kratom.
Another major case came out of Florida, where a judge awarded more than $11 million to the family of Krystal Talavera after her death from acute intoxication caused by mitragynine, one of kratom’s main active compounds.
The judgment followed allegations against the distributor, Kratom Distro, and public reporting on the case said the autopsy listed acute mitragynine intoxication as the cause of death.
These claims are commonly framed as wrongful death actions based on negligence, failure to warn, deceptive marketing, or related product liability theories.
At the center of many lawsuits is the allegation that the companies involved did not provide adequate warnings about the product’s dangers before it reached consumers.
Wrongful death claims can arise after a fatal overdose, respiratory collapse, or another acute medical emergency that is alleged to have been caused by kratom exposure.
The facts in these cases often turn on toxicology findings, product identification, medical examiner conclusions, and the specific warnings, if any, that accompanied the product.
TorHoerman Law: Investigating Injuries and Deaths Linked to Kratom Use
TorHoerman Law is investigating claims involving serious injuries and deaths allegedly linked to kratom products sold without adequate warnings or with misleading safety representations.
These cases can involve liver damage, overdose, respiratory complications, wrongful death, and other severe medical outcomes that deserve close factual and medical review.
Our law firm approaches these matters with a proven track record in complex product liability litigation and a careful, evidence-driven approach to cases involving dangerous consumer products.
If you or your family believe a kratom product caused catastrophic injury or the loss of a loved one, contact TorHoerman Law for a free case review.
