FDA Warns of Risks Associated with Kava

US Food and Drug Administration

The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is making consumers aware of the potential risk of severe liver injury associated with the use of dietary supplements containing kava (Piper methysticum). Potential injuries include hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver failure. This risk has prompted regulatory agencies in Germany, Switzerland, France, Canada, and the UK to take action, ranging from merely warning consumers to pulling products containing kava from the marketplace. Across the globe, products containing kava have been associated with more than 25 reports of liver-related injuries, of which four patients required liver transplants. The FDA has received a report of a previously healthy female in the US who required a liver transplant. Kava-containing supplements are often promoted as helpful to those suffering from stress, sleeplessness, menopausal symptoms, and other problems, though the FDA has not determined whether supplements containing kava actually provide relief for these conditions. The FDA now urges consumers and healthcare providers to report any possible cases of liver or other injuries related to dietary supplements containing kava, symptoms of which may include jaundice, brown urine, nausea, vomiting, light-colored stools, unusual tiredness, weakness, stomach or abdominal pain, or loss of appetite. To read more from the Associated Press, go to http://www.insidevc.com/vcs/health/article/0,1375,VCS_154_1074729,00.html. US Food and Drug Administration. Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. Consumer Advisory: March 25, 2002. Return to Top