Kratom poison center cases have surged 6,500% in the U.S.
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- America's Poison Centers recorded kratom exposures climb from 19 cases in 2010 to 1,242 cases in 2023, a 6,500% increase over the period studied.
- Severe kratom outcomes rose from none reported in 2010 (the first severe case appeared in 2012) to 158 cases in 2023, classified by researchers as life-threatening effects, significant lasting disability, or death.
- States that banned kratom consistently posted lower rates of reported exposure, severe medical outcomes, and healthcare use than states with consumer-protection policies or no kratom regulations at all.
- Unregulated states had the worst outcomes in the study, performing worse than states that had banned the substance outright.
- Kratom's documented health effects include seizures, irregular heart rhythms, liver damage, and breathing problems, with nearly 1 in 7 single-substance exposures admitted to a hospital and 1 in 16 to a critical care unit.
- Dr. Ryan Feldman of the Medical College of Wisconsin, senior author, noted the FDA has neither scheduled kratom federally nor approved it for medical use, leaving regulation entirely to states.
Why it matters: States with no kratom regulations had worse poison-center outcomes than states that banned it outright—giving state legislators debating kratom policy a rare data point showing where the worst-case outcomes cluster. With exposures up 6,500% in a decade and 158 severe cases in 2023, the policy vacuum the FDA's non-decision created is now producing measurable clinical damage.
Ask SkimNews
