FDA Issues Warning About OPMS Liquid Extract

The Food and Drug Administraton has issued a warning advising consumers not to use OPMS Black Liquid Kratom, claiming a death was involved in its consumption.

OPMS is one of the most popular brands of kratom-related products, sold in many gas stations and vape shops around the United States. The product is most often sold in small "energy shot"-style bottles.

OPMS products are not traditional plain leaf kratom, but strong, highly concentrated alkaloids extracted in a lab from kratom leaves.

Scientists recently penned a cautionary letter to the journal Addiction called "Not all kratom is equal: The important distinction between native leaf and extract products":

Recently, there is a growing and concerning commercial trend in Western countries towards the production and marketing of kratom extract products created via extraction of kratom leaves using organic solvents. This enrichment process can increase the mitragynine concentration to 40% or higher in such products. Of great concern from a public health perspective, commercial kratom extract products lack data regarding their safety, efficacy and abuse potential. In addition, the formulation of concentrated kratom extracts as capsules, tablets, liquid shots or gummies circumvents kratom’s natural self-limiting qualities (e.g. unpleasant taste) and reduces the volume of product needed to achieve an effect, thereby raising the risk of users ingesting larger amounts of alkaloids with potentially toxic effects.

In advice to legislators, the scientists wrote, "we strongly recommend that kratom in its native form as the unadulterated fresh or dried leaf material remains available to consumers with proper oversight and regulation."

Kratom in its traditional plain leaf form has been consumed for at least hundreds of years in its native Southeast Asian countries, where it is generally not considered dangerous in the regions where is has been consumed traditionally.

In a press release, the American Kratom Association responded to the FDA warning and accusation of a death associated with the OPMS product: "No such information on the verification of this claim is available in the FDA safety alert for the alleged kratom product issue."

The FDA is also currently studying the risks, safety, and motivations for using kratom.