Kratom is sold in many states — but is the herb safe for pain relief? What experts say

A Washington man sat down in a recliner in his living room to watch television one evening and never woke up. His wife, Sybil Coyne, found him the next morning and soon realized he wasn’t sleeping, or breathing. A deputy sheriff and medics unsuccessfully tried reviving 39-year-old Patrick Coyne, a father of three children, before he was pronounced dead at his family’s home in Cowlitz County on June 28, 2020, a lawsuit says. Next to his body was a bag containing a product derived from kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa — a natural plant with origins in southeast Asia — that he would buy at convenience stores. Patrick Coyne was increasingly using the kratom product daily to help manage his chronic back pain. His cause of death was listed as the “toxic effects of mitragynine (kratom)” by the Cowlitz County Coroner, the lawsuit says.

Keep reading at Miami Herald