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Fatality of 33‐Year‐Old Man Involving Kratom Toxicity
Author(s) -
Matson Marcus,
Schenk Noel
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/1556-4029.14082
Subject(s) - medicine , medical examiner , (+) naloxone , autopsy , heroin , cause of death , poison control , forensic toxicology , toxicology , emergency medicine , injury prevention , opioid , pharmacology , biology , drug , chemistry , receptor , disease , chromatography
Kratom is an herbal product commonly used for its effects which are similar to opioids and stimulants. Few studies demonstrate the dangers and lethality of Kratom, and most fatalities from Kratom involve other abused substances. In the current case report, a 33‐year‐old white man with a known history of opioid abuse and mental illnesses was found unresponsive in his basement with no obvious signs of trauma. After resuscitative efforts, he was pronounced dead and taken for autopsy evaluation. Blood from the inferior vena cava was analyzed for common abused substances. The laboratory toxicology work‐up revealed positive findings of caffeine, cotinine, and naloxone with low levels of Δ‐9 tetrahydrocannabinol. However, a marked level of mitragynine at 1.9 mg/L was observed, the highest reported to date. Given the facts and evidence, the medical examiner certified the cause of death as “mitragynine toxicity” and the manner of death was classified as an “accident.”