Utah Pulls Buzzers Cat's Claw Tablets After Kratom-Linked Death

Utah officials are pulling a line of supplement tablets sold as cat's claw from store shelves after state testing found they actually contained powerful synthetic compounds derived from kratom, a discovery made while investigators probe a recent death and several severe health incidents linked to the products.

The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food and the Utah Poison Control Center issued a joint warning Thursday telling the public not to buy or consume Buzzers brand Cat's Claw tablets and to safely destroy any supply already purchased. Retailers were instructed to remove the products immediately and contact the agriculture department's Specialized Products Division.

What state testing found

Laboratory analysis of Buzzers products identified in recent overdose cases detected mitragynine pseudoindoxyl and MGM-15, two opioid-acting compounds derived from the kratom plant, the agriculture department said. Both are Schedule I drugs under Utah law, and the substances turned up in multiple flavors of the tablets.

Nothing on the packaging disclosed what was inside. "This particular one was not labeled as kratom at all. It was labeled as a totally different product," agriculture department spokesman Leon Page told Deseret News. "It was only discovered because of the incident and poison control submitted the samples to us."

Cat's claw itself is an herbal supplement derived from a tropical woody vine, commonly marketed for joint pain — a product with no expected opioid-like effects, according to Amberly Johnson, director of the Utah Poison Control Center. That made the pattern of recent calls to the center stand out. Johnson said the center has fielded around 40 calls related to kratom or kratom derivative products so far in 2026, and within the past several weeks roughly 19 percent of those cases involved cat's claw products suspected of containing a synthetic kratom derivative.

A legal ban meets a black market

The warning arrives less than three months after Utah's new kratom law took effect on May 6. Passed during the 2026 legislative session, the measure banned the sale of any kratom product that is not "pure leaf kratom" as defined in state code, restricting remaining sales to specialty shops and buyers 21 and older. Manufacturers were given one year to wind down production of anything other than pure leaf.

The Buzzers case suggests at least some supply of enhanced products simply changed its label rather than leaving the market. It also lands as federal regulators move in the same direction: the Drug Enforcement Administration recently filed notice of intent to place 7-hydroxymitragynine and related synthetic compounds into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, targeting the same class of lab-concentrated derivatives now surfacing in Utah's supplement aisles.

Johnson said the compounds involved can be more potent than morphine and carry withdrawal effects with repeated use. In an overdose, she said, the expected picture is "profound sedation or drowsiness, sleepiness, leading to, like, coma. And then also to effects on breathing, so really slow, shallow breathing, even to the point of someone not breathing."

What officials advise

Johnson recommends administering naloxone in any suspected overdose involving the tablets and calling 911 immediately. While naloxone targets opioid effects and the sedative compounds in these products are opioid-acting, emergency medical care remains essential even after a reversal attempt.

Anyone with concerns about adverse effects can reach the Utah Poison Control Center around the clock for free, confidential guidance. The agriculture department said its investigation into the death and the distribution of the mislabeled products is ongoing; officials have released no further details about the fatal case.

The episode underscores a widening enforcement problem for states that have moved against concentrated kratom derivatives: a ban on the shelf does not stop a product that never declares what it is. For Utah regulators, the first major test of the new law is not a labeled kratom extract at a smoke shop — it is a bottle masquerading as a joint-pain supplement.