Expand / Collapse search
Watch TV
Menu

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2024 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.

Medications

FDA finds traces of heavy metals in kratom products

Reuters
Published
FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2017, file photo, kratom capsules are displayed in Albany, N.Y. U.S. health authorities are ordering a Las Vegas company to pull its herbal supplements off the market because some of its products tested positive for salmonella, part of a nationwide outbreak linked to the ingredient kratom. The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday, April 3, 2018, it took the rare step of ordering the recall because Triangle Pharmanaturals refused to cooperate with regulators. Sold in various capsules and powders, kratom has gained popularity in the U.S. as an alternative treatment for pain, anxiety and drug dependence. (AP Photo/Mary Esch, File)

The FDA has been clamping down on the substance, which advocates say help ease pain and reduce symptoms of opioid withdrawal, but which the agency says has similar effects to narcotics such as opioids and has resulted in dozens of deaths. (AP)

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Tuesday it had found high levels of heavy metals such as lead and nickel in some kratom products, following field investigations.

The regulator has been clamping down on the substance, which advocates say help ease pain and reduce symptoms of opioid withdrawal, but which the FDA says has similar effects to narcotics such as opioids and has resulted in dozens of deaths.

SOUTH DAKOTA REPORTS FIRST FLU DEATH OF SEASON

Levels of metal in kratom-based products would likely not result in poisoning based on single use, but could cause people to suffer if used persistently, FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said.

"The findings of identifying heavy metals in kratom only strengthen our public health warnings around this substance," Gottlieb said here in a statement.

While kratom is not controlled under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has listed it as a “drug and chemical of concern”.

CASES OF MYSTERIOUS POLIO-LIKE ILLNESS HIGHEST IN US SINCE 2016, CAUSING CONCERN

Leaves of the kratom tree, native to Southeast Asia, can be used as a stimulant or sedative.

The FDA said it was contacting the companies marketing kratom products to inform them of the metal testing results.

The agency has in the past issued warnings against companies marketing these products for opioid use disorder, and has warned of high rates of salmonella in the products.