A 22-year-old man who collapsed aboard a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Los Angeles in August has died from the combined effects of two compounds found in kratom, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office. The agency classified the manner of death as an accident.
The passenger has been identified by the Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber as Rain McMillen Walmsley, while NBC Los Angeles reported the surname as Walmsey. Walmsley died on Aug. 7 after suffering a medical emergency aboard Southwest Airlines Flight 958, which was traveling from Dallas to Los Angeles, according to the Beachcomber. He was traveling to visit family at the time, the paper reported.
Passengers and crew members performed CPR on board the flight, but Walmsley could not be revived, the Beachcomber reported. His mother told the outlet that he was believed to have suffered a seizure before losing consciousness. Southwest Airlines confirmed to NBC Los Angeles that a medical incident involving a customer occurred on the flight, though the airline did not provide further details in that report.
Coroner Points to Kratom-Derived Compounds
At the time NBC Los Angeles first reported on the death, the station said Walmsley's cause of death remained under investigation. Months later, according to the New York Post, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's Office attributed Walmsley's death to the combined effects of 7-hydroxymitragynine and mitragynine, two compounds found in kratom, a plant supplement that has drawn growing concern amid a string of recent overdoses.
Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, are compounds found in kratom.
A Supplement Under Growing Scrutiny
A Supplement Under Growing Scrutiny The FDA has raised concerns about 7-OH products and their potential for abuse. The agency has said it is taking steps to restrict 7-OH opioid products, though its announcement does not spell out a final prohibition or effective date.
FDA assessment materials note that some products contain 7-OH at levels far exceeding what occurs naturally in the kratom plant. Separately, a CDC report has noted that kratom-related adverse effects are increasing in number and complexity nationwide, while cautioning that pinpointing which substance drove an outcome is often impossible when multiple substances are involved.
Other Cases Tied to Kratom Compounds
California has seen other kratom-linked deaths in recent months, though the circumstances have varied case by case. The Los Angeles Times reported that San Francisco's chief medical examiner ruled a separate man's death an accident caused by the toxic effects of kratom alkaloids, after officials said a supplement marketed as cat's claw was sold without disclosing it contained a compound called MGM-15. Forensic testing in that case reportedly found MGM-15 both in the victim and in a package of tablets sold as uncaria tomentosa extract, per the Los Angeles Times. The paper also reported deaths in Utah involving MGM-15.
The Los Angeles Times also reported that six Los Angeles County residents' deaths were linked to kratom and related substances.
