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Kratom seller sued after Florida nurse overdoses and dies following use of herbal supplement

Hannah Phillips   | Palm Beach Post
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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — More than a year after a 39-year-old Boynton Beach, Florida, nurse fatally overdosed on a dietary supplement, her family is suing the company that sold it, claiming that it could have prevented the tragedy.

Krystal Talavera's fiancé woke to find her lying face down on the floor of their living room on June 20, 2021. A cup of coffee and an open packet of kratom, the supplement medical examiners would later point to as her cause of death, lay on the ground beside her body.

Kratom is an herbal supplement known for its pain-relieving and energy-boosting effects, but it also can cause seizures, respiratory failure and, at times, death.

In a suit filed Nov. 4, Talavera's family accuse Grow LLC, the Idaho-based manufacturer that sold her the kratom, of knowing its customers were at risk of addiction, overdose and death but doing little to warn against the danger.

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“Krystal Talavera's family and all the other loved ones torn apart by kratom deserve justice,” said Tamara Williams, an attorney representing Talavera's family, in a prepared statement. 

She and her co-counselor, Michael Cowgill, are based in Sarasota County, where reports of kratom abuse led officials to ban the substance in 2014.

A two-week jury trial is scheduled to begin July 31 under U.S. Magistrate Judge Donald Middlebrooks. If the suit isn't settled or dropped before then, jurors will decide whether Sean Harder and his company Grow LLC are responsible for Talavera's death.

Harder did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

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Kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, is marketed as a cheap, safe alternative to traditional pharmaceuticals. Talavera's friends pitched it to her years before her death as a dietary supplement, according to the lawsuit.

At low doses, it causes a stimulant effect similar to coffee, often sold in the form of a pill, powder or tea. At higher doses, kratom can produce an opioid-like and euphoric state that has led to a steady growth of abuse worldwide, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

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The Food and Drug Administration tested 30 different kratom products in 2019 and found "significant levels" of lead and nickel in them, which researchers said could cause heavy metal poisoning if consumed over the long term.

Stories of relatives coming home to find a loved one dead, a cocktail of kratom and orange juice in their hand, darken the all-natural image suppliers have concocted over the years. But the American Kratom Association, a trade and lobbying group, has helped snuff out attempts by the FDA to put Kratom in the same class of illegal drugs as heroin, LSD, marijuana and Ecstasy.

“Despite our warnings that no kratom product is safe, we continue to find companies selling kratom and doing so with deceptive medical claims for which there’s no reliable scientific proof,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in 2018.

Kratom advocates say the negative press and push to criminalize herbal supplement are fueled more by corporate greed than actual health concerns. The supplement is lauded as a kind of miracle cure, cheaper and easier to come by than prescription pain medication.

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Family of Florida nurse says kratom supplier put profit before safety

Talavera didn't know about the health risks associated with kratom, her family said in the lawsuit. There was no warning label, no recommended dosage — only the words "Space Dust," the product's name, scrawled in black marker across an otherwise blank bag. She ordered it from Grow LLC, her family’s attorneys said, where she had purchased kratom products before to use as dietary supplements.

Grow LLC and its owner, Harder, should have been well aware of the product's risks, Talavera's attorneys argued. Because the substance isn't regulated by the FDA, it’s up to the manufacturers to ensure its quality. In this instance, the attorneys said, they did not.

Talavera's death interrupted a period of growth and celebration for her family. Originally from the Bronx, New York, the Boynton Beach resident was engaged to be wed. She and her partner had recently welcomed the youngest of Talavera's four children to the family, an infant who watched from the living room as his father discovered Talavera's body.

She was promoted to manager at Trustbridge Hospice Care in West Palm Beach, where she worked as a nurse, prior to her death. Her eldest son graduated from high school the day before she died, with plans to attend the University of Florida to pursue a bachelor's degree in computer science.

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