Kratom Group Contests FDA's Opioid Finding, Requests Joint Meeting With NIDA

American Kratom Association accuses FDA of using “inaccurate, extrapolated and distorted” information on adverse events and deaths allegedly associated with the use of kratom to justify scheduling it as a controlled substance. After FDA Commissioner Gottlieb says the criticism is unfounded and kratom has no future as a dietary ingredient in the US, the group asks for joint meeting with NIDA to discuss "public health policy that allows for consumers to safely use natural kratom."

The American Kratom Association is ratcheting up its fight against FDA’s kratom crackdown with accusations that the agency manipulated and obscured data on the botanical to influence “unwarranted” restrictions on the substance.

Even as the association publishes a white paper stating its arguments against an FDA-supported proposal to schedule kratom as a...