A mother has urged people to be careful of supplements and products that they may be ingesting.
The warning comes as a result of her son, Jordan McKibban, collapsing in his bathroom and dying.
Jordan, 37, was getting ready to host his family by preparing a large organic meal in Washington state. Unfortunately, he would never make it, with a sad realisation being made by his mum, Pam Mauldin, that he would never be able to have kids as she remembered hearing that he was getting serious with his then girlfriend.
After working his longtime job at an organic food distributor on that day in April 2022, he got home and mixed a tablespoon of powdered kratom, a supplement, into his lemonade.
You may have seen the product on social media, which is marketed as a way to alleviate anxiety, depression, and pain.
The effects of a supplement called kratom have come to light (Getty Stock Image)
Unfortunately, Jordan was found lifeless on his bathroom floor, as attempts from his mother to perform CPR proved to be in vain.
Speaking to the New York Post in a heartbreaking interview, Pam said that her son ‘shouldn’t be in the cemetery’.
“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 said.
Kratom products can come in powder form, or as gummies and drinks.
The ingredient comes from a Southeast Asian plant, which can be a sedative at higher doses, or a stimulant at lower doses.
According to the Food Drug Administration (FDA), the key components of the product aren’t ‘awfully marketed’ in the US as either a drug product, dietary supplement, or food additive.
They can easily be found in stores or even petrol stations, and with marketing going through the roof on social media, their popularity isn’t slowing down.
A simple TikTok scroll will show how desperate teenagers and young people are to get their hands on the stuff.
The case of Jordan McKibban has come under intense scrutiny in recent years (mctlaw)
Branded as a ‘botanic’ ingredient, they can come across as healthy products that help with everyday health, but according to emergency medicine physician Dr. Michael Greco, calls about kratom exposures are growing.
There were 1,807 calls to national poison control centres about exposure to kratom from 2011 to 2017, and it was explained that people on the supplement ‘can have a lot of agitation, sometimes even psychosis’.
Dr Greco said: “You get sweating, you get dizziness, you get very high blood pressure or elevated heart rate,” adding that you could even feel extremely drowsy.
Professionals have highlighted the number of consumers who are unaware of kratom’s risks, as manufacturers don’t need to verify if the label is accurate in explaining what’s inside the product.
Jordan was told it was impossible to overdose on the ingredient, and that he would simply throw up if he took too much – which was false.
Mauldin noted that food products from Costco get recalled over the smallest thing, yet: “There have been hundreds of people killed from this, and they don’t pull it. The government doesn’t step in.”
Many have raised concerns over 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, a highly potent and highly addictive kratom offshoot which is now very much present in the market.
Jordan’s mother has been fighting for there to be more regulations around the sale of kratom (mctlaw)
Dr. Robert Levy, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota who is certified in addiction and family medicine, said that kratom can act like an opioid ‘if you take enough of it’.
Levy described it as ‘much more problematic’ than other substances, while FDA Commissioner Marty Makary said in a press release last month that 7-OH ‘can be more potent than morphine.
“We need regulation and public education to prevent another wave of the opioid epidemic,” he claimed.
Levy has now urged parents to speak with their children about the dangers of kratom, in the fear that young people may develop a substance disorder.
Following Mauldin’s first lawsuit, a second kratom wrongful death lawsuit was filed in connection to Jordan’s death, involving a number of manufacturers and sellers of kratom brands like Whole Herbs kratom capsules and Hush Kratom liquid shots.
Additionally, the bulk kratom powder sold by Cloud House Vaporz is being targeted for its role in Jordan’s kratom-related death.
The lawsuit adds that there is an increased number of death certificates across the US, as kratom has been formally identified as the cause of death more than ever before, as research shows it is 63 times deadlier than other natural products sold to consumers.
LADbible has contacted Cloud House Vaporz for comment.
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