Alert: Rising Kratom Exposure Reports Could Heighten Merchant Risk & Scrutiny

Sentinel Alert: This legislative shift in National primarily impacts All Kratom Processors. Risk Level: Moderate. Impact: Increased potential for higher payment processing risk assessments due to negative public perception.

“Kratom-Related Exposures” Reported to Poison Control Increase to 3,434 in 2025

Despite news media and other nefarious actors’ exaggerations, and despite millions of informed adults using kratom in moderation with net benefits, risks of kratom use are real. Kratom should not be consumed in high doses or with various other substances, including alcohol, Benedryl, Tylenol, opioids, or multiple prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Kratom should not be consumed by adults with heart, liver, organ, digestive, or various other health issues. Kratom can contribute to dependency even in traditional use. Kratom should not be consumed by children, or by adults who are unable or unwilling to educate themselves about possible risks and benefits.

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), since 2015 the National Poison Data System [NPDS] “found an increase of approximately 1,200% in kratom-related exposure reports (from 258 to 3,434), including a marked surge in 2025.” The report explains, “The NPDS coding manual defines an exposure report as actual or suspected contact with a substance that prompted a consultation with a poison center, regardless of toxicity or clinical manifestations.” Sixty-two percent (62%) of the reports involved kratom as a single-substance. The rest (38%) were multiple-substance reports that included kratom among multiple substances. Six percent (6%) of the reports were deliberate suicide attempts.

Four limitations are listed by the authors: “First, NPDS relies on voluntary, self-reported data that might result in an underestimate of the number of milder events. Second, the poison center reports included reports from repeat callers, and certain substances or outcomes might have been misclassified despite standardized procedures. Third, the data do not include information about whether the kratom use involved traditional leaf products or semisynthetic or concentrated formulations, such as 7-hydroxymitragynine, thereby limiting conclusions about formulation-specific risks. Finally, multiple substances can be reported for each exposure report, and determining which substance was most related to clinical effects or medical outcome, including death, was not possible.”

Multiple news reports presented these data as a public health threat rather than as an expected increase in minor-to-serious adverse events corresponding with rising use. Some headlines referred to all exposure reports as “kratom poisonings” (1, 2). Many headlines focused on percentages rather than numbers. The tabloid/gossip outlet New York Post ran this headline: “Hospitalizations from ‘natural’ supplement have shot up 1,150%, docs warn”, and like other major outlets, saved for later the boring statistic: The literal hospitalization numbers increased from 43 in 2015 to 538 in 2025, without accounting for the fact that many involve multiple-substance exposure, and the severity of outcomes are not discussed.

A very conservative estimate, the most conservative we could find, places the number of the nation’s kratom consumers at 1.7 million. Using this estimate, and assuming the total number of calls from all ten years (14,449) were attributed to individual kratom consumers, this would only reflect the experience of roughly 0.8% of all consumers.

Source: Kratom Science via Sentinel Newsroom