Kratom was deadly for a Boalsburg woman. Her family is now suing the shop that sold the supplement
The family of a Boalsburg woman who died of an accidental kratom overdose accused a State College shop in a lawsuit of reaping monetary benefits from selling the supplement while ignoring its potentially deadly effects.
The five-count, 24-page lawsuit filed earlier this month in Centre County by the family of Meagan Martain, 34, seeks unspecified monetary damages from Jamaica Junction, located in at 111 S. Pugh St. in downtown State College.
“We love to punish, as we should, drug dealers on the street for selling heroin and painkillers and things like that. There’s no reason a brick-and-mortar store like Jamaica Junction shouldn’t receive the same treatment,” Martain family attorney Andrew Carson said Wednesday. “... It’s the latest iteration of profit over people.”
Martain, who became addicted to prescription painkillers after a vehicle crash, turned to kratom as a supposed healthier alternative.
The herbal extract that comes from the leaves of an evergreen tree grown in Southeast Asia is often marketed as a treatment for a range of maladies, though there are no Food and Drug Administration-approved uses for the plant that affects the same opioid brain receptors as morphine.
The pills she acquired in November 2018 from the downtown State College business had “absolutely no warnings” or information about potential side effects, Carson wrote.
She consumed the pills days later and was found dead by her mother, Carson wrote.
“Meagan’s life and future was taken from her by Jamaica Junction, a company interested only in concealing the dangerous effects of the opioids it masquerades around as an ‘herbal supplement’ so that it can continue to peddle its deadly products,” Carson wrote.
It is not clear if the business, which did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment, still sells kratom. Store manager Justin Minnick last year said he has “zero desire” to harm anyone.
“I am not here to cause anyone’s life pain or take anything from them,” Minnick said. “That’s not what we’re here for; we’re here to help people.”
Martain’s death prompted a joint press conference in April 2019 between Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna and state Rep. Scott Conklin, D-Rush Township.
Cantorna hand-delivered a letter that urged the head shop to stop selling kratom, while Conklin has since introduced a bill that would classify kratom as a controlled substance.
The bill would bring government oversight to the sale of kratom and ensure the product was labeled and identified correctly, Conklin said Wednesday.
Martain’s family is planning to also sue an Oregon-based company that distributed kratom to Jamaica Junction, Carson said. He believes there is a “reasonable likelihood” of a settlement, though expressed a willingness to have a trial if needed.
“Had there been a modicum of precaution and warning and due diligence, perhaps Meagan would still be alive today,” Carson said. “... Even if we don’t get a dime out of this case, if we get kratom off the shelves and get the word out, I think I’ve done my job. Any compensation for the Martain’s would be a bonus.”
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 7:00 AM.