Mayer Brown Legal Analysis: Kratom Wrongful Death Suits Accelerating—$11 Million Verdict Signals Major Industry Liability

Why it matters

A rapidly expanding wave of kratom wrongful death and product liability lawsuits—including an $11 million judgment—reveals that private litigation is creating substantial financial accountability for the kratom industry even as federal regulation remains incomplete.

The big picture

With kratom still unscheduled at the federal level, courts have become a primary arena for accountability. Cases span at least 12 states, and plaintiffs' firms are securing significant verdicts. The FDA's description of 7-OH as "another wave of the opioid epidemic" and its July 2025 recommendation to schedule 7-OH as Schedule I is bolstering plaintiffs' arguments in these cases.

Key findings

• A $2.5 million jury award (Coyne v. Chin 2 Corp., Washington) and an $11 million default judgment (Filippelli v. Grow, LLC, Florida) are among precedent-setting verdicts
• Complaints span jurisdictions including Washington, Georgia, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, California, Ohio, and Connecticut
• Most lawsuits assert strict products liability, negligence, failure to warn, breach of warranty, fraud, and wrongful death
• Companies that marketed kratom as safe, natural, or non-addictive face the highest failure-to-warn exposure
• A fraud class action has been filed in the Northern District of California; Texas state enforcement actions target retailers selling illegal synthetic alkaloids

What they say

Mayer Brown attorneys warn that "plaintiffs will argue that, in any event, the FDA's persistent position and Utah's legislative action demonstrate that nothing can be done to cure the inherently unsafe nature of the product," and advise manufacturers to "immediately evaluate their product labeling, marketing claims, corporate structures, and import documentation."

Bottom line

Kratom product liability litigation is accelerating rapidly, with courts already awarding multimillion-dollar verdicts—putting every manufacturer, distributor, and retailer in the supply chain on notice that legal exposure is now very real.