CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW)- UVA Health’s Blue Ridge Poison Center is warning of misleading packaging of products that are said to contain Cat’s Claw bark.  According to Dr. Chris Holstege, some products labeled as Cat’s Claw contain the plant Kratom and can induce opioid symptoms in some users. 

The Cat’s Claw plant, originally from South America, has been used commonly in that region and has bark said to have medicinal properties, specifically to treat viral and inflammatory diseases.  The Blue Ridge Poison Center has said that there is no clinical basis for these purported effects, but use of Cat’s Claw products as a supplement has caught on in the United States recently. 

Initially, this mislabeled packaging was discovered when users who consumed Cat’s Claw products began to exhibit symptoms of opioid use and opioid addiction, neither of which can be caused by Cat’s Claw by itself. 

After buying several of these products, Holstege and his team have determined that companies selling Kratom, in some cases, label their products as Cat’s Claw to get around restrictions some states have passed over the sale of Kratom.  

“We’re just starting to get those calls, it’s hard to track the data,” Holstege said during a Friday media briefing, “but we want the public to know as we see the emergence of this new substance.” 

Holstege says that Kratom use can alter a user’s mental status, cause respiratory depression, induce comas, and can even kill. 

He said the Blue Ridge Poison Center has seen many patients who exhibit withdrawal symptoms from Kratom, and that it does have addictive properties.  One of the biggest challenges in protecting patients, Holstege mentions, is the lack of federal regulation around the sale and distribution of Kratom.   

“The FDA does not oversee these products; it worries me a lot that the public does not always know what their getting from these products,” he said.

There are provisions in place governing supplements and non-pharmaceutical drugs, such as the Dietary Supplement Act, but Holstege is calling for greater protections. 

“Quite frankly in this country we need to look at this a little bit closer,” he said. “We have to have quality control.” 

The Blue Ridge Poison Center can be reached at 1-800-222-1222, and nurses are available 24/7.