Northside Hospital Forsyth warns of rising 7-OH overdose cases

Northside Hospital Forsyth is seeing more emergency-room patients overdosing on 7-OH, a synthetic form of kratom that emergency room director Dr. Douglas Olson says many people wrongly assume is safe because it can still be bought in some stores.

Olson calls the product dangerous, highly addictive and hard for some patients to identify after they have taken it. The symptoms doctors worry about most are respiratory depression and altered mental status. Respiratory depression can progress to cardiac arrest.

Concentrated 7-OH products are sold online and in smoke shops, gas stations and corner stores, and Georgia officials have warned that they are flooding convenience stores, vape shops and other retail outlets. The FDA says 7-OH occurs naturally in kratom only in trace amounts, making up less than 2 percent of kratom’s total alkaloid content. The agency says 7-OH products are not approved for any medical use and should be avoided.

On July 1, the Drug Enforcement Administration filed its intent to temporarily place 7-hydroxymitragynine and three related substances, mitragynine pseudoindoxyl, MGM-15 and MGM-16, into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. The action followed an FDA recommendation last year to schedule certain 7-OH products, with FDA Commissioner Marty Makary warning that concentrated 7-OH can be more potent than morphine. In Georgia, Attorney General Chris Carr said concentrated forms can be 13 times more potent than morphine and can lead to seizures, substance abuse disorder, withdrawal, overdose and death.

Ashli Goodwin of Covington said her husband, Brad, relapsed after years of sobriety and spent thousands of dollars on the drug in a few months. Steven Webb described crippling addiction to kratom products and the financial damage that followed.

Georgia’s kratom law took effect on January 1, 2025, requiring sellers to verify buyers are at least 21 and keep products behind the counter or in a secured display. If someone is unresponsive after taking a product labeled 7-OH or sold as concentrated kratom, call 911 immediately and contact Poison Help Line.