"Dietary Supplement"

The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to steer clear of Optimized Plant Mediated Solutions (OPMS) Black Liquid Kratom after officials allege the product can be linked to health conditions and death.

The FDA’s announcement comes after an investigation into the product following a slew of reports detailing users’ adverse health events and the death of a 23-year-old Georgia man who died in December 2021. Mitragyna speciosa, or kratom, is a plant that derives from Southeast Asia. Though the product is marketed as “all-natural” and is a plant supplement, it has yet to be approved by the FDA.

Some of the reported health concerns linked to the use of kratom include withdrawals, addiction, increased anxiety, digestive issues and restless leg syndrome. This condition causes patients to feel discomfort in their legs and have a compulsion to frequently move or shift them, especially at night or when resting.

Within months of each other, two soldiers, 22 and 32 years-old, died while participating in on-base fitness exercises with the rest of their respective platoon. Autopsies performed on both servicemen revealed the presence of dimethylamylamine (DMAA) in the toxicology reports, according to an Army spokesman. There have been additional mentions of DMAA in situations involving at least five other servicemen (3 soldiers and 2 Marines) who collapsed during heavy military exercise.

In recent years, the body-building community and the military community have seen an exponential increase in dietary supplement consumption. The largest selling product is Jack3d (pronounced “Jacked,”) manufactured by Dallas-based company USPlabs. Products like Jack3d contain DMAA, which is an ingredient the manufacturers advertise increases energy, concentration, and metabolism. Given the popularity within the military community, DMAA-based products like Jack3d were sold at on-base stores like GNC.

That changed in December 2011 after the Defense Department ordered an end to on-base sales of DMAA-based products sold as dietary supplements, including Jack3d. The ban was put in place immediately after the military concluded that the potential common denominator in the deaths of two soldiers and the collapsing of five additional servicemen was the consumption of DMAA products. The Defense Department ordered the temporary ban to investigate whether Jack3d and other DMAA-based products played a role in these mentioned incidents, and to determine if they are essentially safe for consumption.

Articles Tagged with “Dietary Supplement”

FDA warns consumers about dangers of this supplement brand after lawsuit blames it for Georgia man’s death in December 2021

Jack3d Dietary Supplement Investigated by the US Army in the deaths of two soldiers