San Francisco Reports First Fatal MGM-15 Overdose

San Francisco health officials reported the city’s first known fatal overdose involving MGM-15 after an adult died in late September; the potent kratom-derived opioid was found in the person and in packaging for a product labeled “Script Botanicals x Maui Labs.” MGM-15, which is federally classified as Schedule I and is not approved for medical use, is estimated to be up to 50 times more potent than morphine. Officials warn that it may be sold in products marketed as supplements or “cat’s claw,” without disclosing kratom or 7-OH, and say naloxone may reverse an overdose; similar substances have been linked to overdoses in Utah and Washington. Separately, police searched two smoke shops and seized hundreds of kratom-related products and other suspected illegal items, but have not said whether the seized products contained MGM-15 or were connected to the death.