Judge awards $11M to family of woman who died after using kratom

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The family of a South Florida woman who died after ingesting a kratom product two years ago was awarded $11 million in a federal wrongful death lawsuit on Wednesday.

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Circuit Judge Donald Middlebrooks issued a final default judgment against Grow, LLC, and Sean Michael Harder, the owner and operator of The Kratom Distro, WPTV reported. The defendants were sued in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Family members alleged that Krystal Talavera, 39, of Boynton Beach, died on June 20, 2021, after ingesting a kratom product supplied by Grow, LLC.

Talavera, a registered nurse, was discovered unconscious and lying face down in her living room floor, the Sun-Sentinel reported. A cup of hot coffee and an open bag of “Space Dust,” a product sold by Grow LLC, was found next to her, according to the lawsuit.

It was Father’s Day, and Biagio Vultaggio, the father of Talavera’s youngest child, found her unresponsive, the Miami Herald reported.

Talavera was a registered nurse at Trustbridge Hospice Care in West Palm Beach and had recently been promoted to manager before her death, the Herald reported.

“I again emphasize that no award of damages will ever be adequate and that this decision reflects nothing more than an adherence to prior cases,” Middlebrook said in announcing the monetary award, according to WPEC-TV.

According to WPTV, the breakdown of the cash award was $4,642,895.70 for the estate of Krystal Talavera, $1 million for Devin Filippelli as Talavera’s surviving oldest son; and $2 million for her other three children.

According to the lawsuit, the “Space Dust” product is derived from kratom, or Mitragyna speciosa, a natural plant with origins in Southeast Asia that is commonly sold as a supplement in U.S. stores, WPTV reported.

The product is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

An autopsy performed by the Palm Beach County Coroner determined that Talavera’s cause of death was “acute mitragynine intoxication,” according to the lawsuit. “At high concentrations, mitragynine produces opioid-like effects, such as respiratory failure,” the coroner’s office said.

Talavera used the product “under the belief that Kratom was a safe dietary supplement with several health benefits,” the lawsuit stated.

“This $11 million dollar judgment should be a wakeup call to the kratom industry about this dangerous and unregulated substance,” Tamara Williams, the family’s attorney, said in a statement. “There are families across the country who know firsthand that kratom is addictive and can be deadly.”

Representatives for Grow, LLC, did not return a request for comment from the Herald.

Filippelli, 21, said in a statement that he hoped the ruling will bring awareness to “the dangers of kratom,” the newspaper reported.

“I am grateful for the judge’s decision, but no amount of money will bring my mom back or numb my pain,” Filippelli said in his statement.