After failing to make the ballot, the loss of SD12 adds to the margin of defeat for a push to overturn Utah’s gerrymandering ban.

SALT LAKE CITY — An Oklahoma-based kratom manufacturer is suing over Utah’s new law limiting sales of the compound, saying it could cost the company more than $10 million when it takes effect next month.

Botanic Tonics LLC manufacturers, distributes and sells a dietary supplement made of kratom and noble kava root known as “feel free,” according to a lawsuit filed in federal court on March 31. The company said SB45, which lawmakers passed in the recent legislative session, would prohibit it and three other companies from selling products at more than 300 retail locations statewide.

“Immediate projected losses to plaintiffs due to the statute’s ban on combination kratom dietary supplements exceed $10,704,428,” the complaints states. “To comply with the statute, plaintiffs have notified their direct to store distributors that all kratom leaf products combined with any other ingredient must be removed from store shelves and not made available for sale as of May 6, 2026, unless action is taken by this court to enjoin implementation of the statute.”

It went on to say that the law “denies access to such products for which there is clinical trial data establishing that they do not present a significant or unreasonable risk of illness or injury.”

The lawsuit was filed against Utah Attorney General Derek Brown and several state officials: Kelly Pherson, commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food; Amber Brown, deputy commissioner of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food; and Bradon Forsyth, director of the Utah Specialized Product Division.

Botanic Tonics filed the suit in conjunction with the Kratom Coalition Inc., asking a judge to declare Utah’s limits on kratom sales unconstitutional and block the state from enforcing it through a preliminary injunction. The company sued Utah’s Department of Agriculture and Food in a separate state court last year, but that complaint was eventually dismissed.

Kratom comes from a tropical tree and is used by some people for pain management. Kratom products have been sold in retail shops and include powders, gummies, teas and energy drinks.

The substance has been called “gas station heroin” because it can act on the same receptors in the brain that opioids do. Synthetic products derived from kratom can lead to overdose.

SB45 takes effect May 6 and will only allow for the sale of pure leaf kratom in Utah, and only in smoke shops and similar stores. It also gives manufacturers one year to stop producing anything other than pure kratom leaf in the state.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, said the law was meant to protect Utahns from the product. He said based on an informal poll he took of gas station clerks, “feel free” is one of the most popular kratom products sold in Utah, and called the product “extremely potent, extremely addictive.”

“I’m not worried about it being struck down,” he said of the law. “And the lawsuit doesn’t surprise me. This company has been very aggressive. They’ve sued the state in the past. Ultimately that case was dismissed, but I am confident in our case.”

Renewal, Not New Prescribing

Utah started testing AI for prescription refills without physician signoff in January, as PYMNTS reported at the time. The state partnered with startup Doctronic to cover common chronic medications like statins and blood pressure drugs, spanning nearly 200 medications across primary care, according to Fierce Healthcare.

Legion’s scope is narrower, aimed squarely at mental health access. Most Utah counties are designated mental health provider shortage areas, leaving up to 500,000 residents without adequate behavioral care, according to the Utah Office of AI Policy.

The AI’s guardrails are tight. It cannot issue new prescriptions, adjust doses or handle controlled substances, benzodiazepines or antipsychotics. Patients must be stable and on an existing treatment plan with a licensed psychiatrist and must not have had a psychiatric hospitalization in the past year. Any signs of suicidality, mania, severe side effects or pregnancy trigger an immediate handoff to a human clinician, as detailed by the Utah Office of AI Policy.

The oversight structure is phased. The first 250 renewals by the AI require physician review before reaching the pharmacy, with a minimum agreement rate of more 98% required to proceed.

The next 1,000 renewals are reviewed after the fact, requiring a greater-than-99% threshold before shifting to randomized monthly tests, the Utah Office of AI Policy stated. Legion is required to file monthly reports on accuracy, physician alignment and any adverse outcomes under the policy.

The structure reflects Doctronic’s earlier mishaps. Within weeks of its launch, security researchers were able to push the system to triple a patient’s opioid dosage and generate misinformation about vaccines, as reported by The Verge.

The Access Case and Its Limits

State officials said the program would allow patients to get care “much more quickly and affordably,” freeing providers to focus on more complex cases, according to The Verge. Legion Co-founder and CEO Yash Patel described the pilot as “the beginning of something much bigger than refills.”

The demand for AI in healthcare is already there. More than 40 million people worldwide use ChatGPT daily for health-related queries, with about 70% happening outside clinic hours, as covered by PYMNTS.

Stanford GSB research found that a customized AI system cut prescription near-misses by about 33% in a pharmacy setting, but only with tight domain constraints and human review at dispensing. Without those conditions, broader AI models produced error rates between 50% and 400% higher than existing systems.

Critics aren’t convinced the access argument holds. Brent Kious, a psychiatrist and professor at the University of Utah School of Medicine, told The Verge the benefits of an AI refill system “may be overstated” and won’t reach the patients who need care most, since users must already be in treatment. He also warned of an “epidemic of over-treatment,” with patients staying on medications longer than necessary.

Utah’s 12-month pilot is designed to collect safety data to determine whether the model can expand to other states or tighten the limits regulators allow. Findings are due before the end of the year.