MENIFEE, Calif. — More than a year after Lauren Dominguez’s mother died unexpectedly in her sleep at 55, her family says they believe a kratom product played a role in her death.
The family has since taken legal action, filing a lawsuit against both the product’s manufacturer and the retailer that sold it.
“I think my mom was like our last safe place since our dad passed away 11 years ago, unexpectedly, so when you lose your second parent, you just feel kind of alone,” Dominguez said.
Dominguez said her mother was discovered unresponsive inside her home in Southern California.
“She looked so peaceful, just in her jammies. She had the fan on and the heater on, and she just was laying there,” she said.
According to the coroner’s report, the cause of death was acute mitragynine intoxication, with chronic alcohol use listed as a contributing factor. Mitragynine is one of the main chemicals found in products containing kratom.
“It makes me angry because people think it’s safe and it’s not,” Dominguez said. “There’s people that have posted on Instagram, and I’ve literally wrote them like don’t take this. My mom died from it.”
Attorney Michael Jeandron, who represents Dominguez and her family, said the lawsuit targets the manufacturer and retailer of a kratom product.
“Kratom is marketed as herbal, as natural, as a supplement, it comes from a plant,” Jeandron said.
Jeandron alleged that consumers may be misled about the product’s safety.
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“The company’s marketing it as safe and tested, and they provide results that say all of these kratom products are safe. The problem is that even a small dose of kratom can cause respiratory depression,” he said.
According to the California Department of Public Health, taking kratom can lead to addiction, serious harm, overdose and death. The product is illegal to sell in California.
However, after an interview with Dominguez, the product was still being sold at Almond Smoke Shop in Menifee, where Dominguez said her mother purchased it.
“It is addictive, but they don’t realize it’s going to be addictive when it’s sold on the shelf next to an energy drink and beef jerky at a gas station,” Jeandron said. “They just think it’s a supplement, it’s natural, it must be safe.”
Requests for comment were sent to the owner of Almond Smoke Shop in Menifee and to the manufacturer of the kratom product, known as Exotic Blue Magic. No responses had been received at the time of publication.
Dominguez said the loss of her mother has continued to affect her family.
“It’s affected my kids because they think, will you go to sleep and not wake up? And before we knew what it was, we didn’t know what had happened,” she said.
She said she hopes the product will no longer be available for sale.
“I just hope that it’s not sold anymore,” Dominguez said. “It almost makes me angry.”
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