Author: Catherine

Sunstone Organics of Springfield is recalling two lots of the herbal supplement kratom, which the company sells at five retail outlets in Bend, because of potential salmonella contamination. Kratom is linked to past salmonella illnesses, but Sunstone Organics has not received any reports of adverse events related to the current recall, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration press release issued Friday. The Oregon Health Authority investigated a case of salmonella bacteria in a Lane County resident who reported consuming Sunstone Organics kratom, spokesman Jonathan Modie said. The person’s leftover kratom tested positive. The bacteria was also found in subsequent tests of the company’s product. The recalled products are White Vein Kratom Lot 119 and Maeng Da Kratom Lot 12...

Israel has recently been in the news after the government issued ... with attendant health benefits. Jumping through hoops Even in Israel, conducting research with cannabis entails bureaucratic obstac...

The cannabis industry and public health advocates are facing off again over a proposal to allow Oregonians and visitors to light up in specified public places. A legislative committee on Thursday hear...

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Gaia Pharma, which has just won approval to build a European Union GMP-compliant cannabis cultivation facility by the Portuguese Health Ministry, will be renamed ...

With clients including Rachel Weisz, Margot Robbie and Selena Gomez, Young is a fan of cannabis health and wellness brand Dosist to help her relax before red carpet events. "The Calm pen is the one I ...

Calls to U.S. poison control centers related to the herbal drug kratom have skyrocketed, increasing more than 50-fold in a matter of six years, a new study shows. Back in 2011, poison centers received about one call a month regarding someone who'd taken too much kratom, a plant that is purported to produce mild opioid-like effects. These days, nearly two calls a day are received concerning kratom exposures, researchers report in the Feb. 21 issue of the journal Clinical Toxicology. "We're now getting literally hundreds of cases a year versus 10 or 20," said researcher Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus. He noted that kratom reports underwent a "relatively big spike" sometime between 2015 and 2016. The research...

A study published Thursday showed calls to U.S. poison control centers regarding the herbal supplement kratom have increased more than 50-fold in recent years. The poison control center calls have increased from 13 in 2011 to 682 in 2017. According to the study published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, there were 1,807 exposures across the seven-year period with 65 percent of those intances occurring in 2016-2017. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration describes Mitragyna speciosa, more commonly known as kratom, as a plant which grows naturally in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua Guinea. The herbal supplement has gained national attention as some have reported using the the drug to treat pain and help them refrain from using opioids. Read more at UPI.com

New research reveals a dramatic rise in the number of calls to U.S. poison control centers regarding the herbal supplement kratom. The plant, which is native to Southeast Asia, has been the source of controversy in recent years, as its use has been touted as an alternative to opioids and other painkillers, as well as a supposed treatment for depression, anxiety, and symptoms of opioid withdrawal. But kratom, often taken as a pill or brewed as tea, is not regulated by the FDA and health officials have expressed concerns about its safety. The study, published in the journal Clinical Toxicology, found that calls to U.S. poison control centers about kratom skyrocketed more than 50-fold, from 13 calls in 2011 to 682 calls in 2017. That's the equivalent of going from about one call a month...

In recent years, kratom has become popular as a treatment for chronic or acute pain as well as mood conditions such as depression and anxiety. It is also often used to help with opioid withdrawal. While there is a perception that kratom is safe because it is classified as an herbal supplement, a variety of serious medical outcomes as well as 11 deaths have occurred following kratom use. A new study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy and the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital found that there were more than 1,800 calls to U.S. Poison Control Centers regarding exposures to kratom from January 2011 through December 2017. The annual number of calls increased dramatically, going from 13 calls in 2011 to 682 calls in 2017. That is the equivalent of g...