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Suboxone + Kratom = Adding Insult to Injury

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A wild, wild west market

San Francisco, CA Kratom is a dangerous drug, whose ingredients may be highly addictive at larger doses. Kratom products may not be marketed in the U.S. as prescription or over-the-counter drugs. Instead, they exist in the murky, unregulated world of herbal supplements. According to a kratom researcher at the University of Florida, “It’s totally a wild, wild west market. Buyer beware. You never know what you’re going to get in this business.” Treating the resulting addiction with Suboxone sublingual film can make a bad situation worse. 

On October 7, 2024, plaintiffs known as M.A., A.S., N.A., and J.R. filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California alleging that Thang Botanicals and FTLS Holdings, LLC engaged in false, misleading, deceptive, and negligent sales practices regarding kratom (referred to in their Complaint as “7-Hydroxymitragynine tablet products,” “7-OH,” or “7OHMZ”).


What is kratom?


Kratom, derived from the Mitragyna speciosa tree, has gained popularity as a dietary supplement, a purported natural remedy for pain, anxiety, and opioid withdrawal. However, growing evidence suggests a significant risk of addiction and other serious health consequences, especially when the substance is consumed in higher concentrations. Kratom's primary psychoactive compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, interact with opioid receptors in the brain, producing effects like opioid drugs.

These effects include pain relief, euphoria, sedation, and respiratory suppression, which can be fatal. Kratom can be highly addictive. Withdrawal symptoms may include:
  • muscle pain;
  • sleeplessness;
  • nausea and vomiting;
  • diarrhea;
  • anxiety and irritability;
  • aggression; and
  • depression.
These symptoms are very like those experienced during opioid withdrawal, which is often treated with Suboxone. But Suboxone also poses serious risks. Reliable research has established that treating opioid and opioid-like addictions with Suboxone film can cause severe tooth decay, tooth loss and mouth infections.

Adding the health and cosmetic insult of toothlessness to the life-threatening disease of kratom addiction just compounds the problem.


Grave danger


M.A. v. Thang Botanicals does not explicitly mention Suboxone side effects but focuses on defendants’ failure to disclose the grave danger posed by kratom.

The plaintiffs’ stories, as related in the Complaint, are heartbreaking.

“Plaintiff A.S. first learned about kratom when he worked as a waiter and a coworker told him it could help with anxiety and make it easier to talk to people, but did not mention any risk. A.S. first tried 7OHMZ in June 2024 when he was on his honeymoon and a smoke shop sales associate said it was a stronger option than the rest. He purchased it without seeing any risk on the packaging... A.S. took 7OHMZ daily for three months; his addiction was at its worst in August 2024 when he was spending roughly $700 each week and buying daily three of the 3-pack tablets per day (nine total). Withdrawal symptoms A.S. experienced when he did try to quit (multiple times) included restlessness, cramps, vomiting, sweating, irritability, and loss of appetite.”

“Plaintiff N.A… first purchased Defendants’ 7- OH Products in or around October 2023. At the time of this purchase, N.A. had been clean from opiates for 3.5 years, and was working at an addiction treatment center helping others overcome their disease. When he first purchased the Product he was told that Defendants’ 7-OH Products were a non-addictive, organic, functional supplement for those seeking to alleviate pain, get sober, or maintain sobriety. … The first time N.A. tried Defendants’ 7-OH Products he was amazed that such a Product could produce such effects without being addictive. From here, things slid downhill at a terrifying rate… He began taking more and more of Defendants’ 7-OH Tablets and soon found himself in the grips of addiction without realizing it.
N.A. did not realize he had fallen into addiction because there were no adequate warnings on Defendants’ 7-OH Product’s packaging... In a truly horrifying moment, his partner took one of Defendants’ 7-OH pills, overdosed, and had to be rushed to the hospital. N.A. could not believe that something without a warning could wreak the same havoc on his life that pharmaceutical opiates like Percocet did when he was an addict.”


Deceptive advertising


In the Western world, kratom is sold online and at herbal stores, gas stations, corner stores, smoke shops, and “head” shops where it is primarily marketed as an herbal medicine or natural supplement to use to “treat” a variety of ailments (e.g., pain, mental health, opioid withdrawal symptoms), and/or to obtain a “legal” or “natural” high. It has been called “gas station heroin.”

Kratom’s popularity is attributed to several factors: first, it is marketed as a safe substitute for painkillers and so it appeals to consumers who falsely equate “natural” with “safe;” second, kratom has received media attention as a “nootropic” or “smart” drug because it is stimulating at low doses and; third, kratom is widely available and unregulated within the United States. Chillingly, defendants allegedly also built a market for kratom products by giving away free samples.


Suboxone treatment


Kratom poses a significant public health threat due to its addictive potential and the risk of serious adverse health effects, including overdose and death. This is not a situation where the treatment for addiction, which may involve Suboxone film, is worse than the disease. However, Suboxone may add problems of its own. With both kratom products and Suboxone, users need to have access to full and fair disclosure of the risks involved.

READ ABOUT SUBOXONE TOOTH DECAY LAWSUITS

Suboxone Tooth Decay Legal Help

If you or a loved one have suffered losses in this case, please click the link below and your complaint will be sent to a drugs & medical lawyer who may evaluate your Suboxone Tooth Decay claim at no cost or obligation.

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