Feel Free Drink Lawsuit: $8.75M Settlement, Death, FDA Seizure

The Feel Free drink lawsuit began as a 2023 California class action alleging that Botanic Tonics hid kratom, an addictive psychoactive substance, inside a two-ounce wellness tonic it marketed as a safe alternative to alcohol. That case ended in an $8.75 million settlement approved on October 20, 2025. Since then, a Florida family has filed a wrongful death suit tied to the product, federal agents seized roughly $3 million in inventory (a case later dismissed), and the company itself has sued Utah over its kratom law.¹²

Why Feel Free Is Being Sued

Feel Free Classic is a shelf-stable two-ounce shot made by Botanic Tonics of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. It contains kava root extract and ground kratom leaf and was sold through more than 100 independent distributors and a retail partnership with 7-Eleven, with twelve-packs starting at $105.³

The company marketed the drink as “safe,” “sober,” “healthy,” and “non-addictive,” pitching it to people trying to quit alcohol and to college students. Plaintiffs allege the drink was billed as a “kava drink” while kratom was actually the primary functional ingredient, and that Botanic Tonics never disclosed how much kratom was in each bottle. The complaint further alleged the company manipulated its formula to increase mitragynine, kratom’s main psychoactive alkaloid, so it would cross the blood-brain barrier faster and hit harder.³

Lead plaintiff Romulo Torres, a recovering alcoholic sober since 2014, said he saw Feel Free in targeted social media ads in 2020, started buying it at 7-Eleven, and within months was consuming ten bottles a day at a cost that reached $3,000 per month. He said he was hospitalized twice, relapsed into alcohol use trying to manage withdrawal, and eventually entered medical detox.⁴⁵

The $8.75 Million Class Action Settlement

Torres filed his complaint on March 28, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (case number 3:23-cv-01460), naming Botanic Tonics, 7-Eleven, and additional defendants. The claims included violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law, common law fraud, breach of implied warranty, and unjust enrichment.³

7-Eleven tried to get out of the case, arguing it had no duty to warn about a product it merely sold. On December 21, 2023, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria denied that motion, holding that a retailer could be liable for failing to disclose known dangers of a product it chose to stock. The unfair competition and unjust enrichment claims against the chain proceeded.⁶

Consolidated as In re Botanic Tonics Litigation, the case settled for $8.75 million against Botanic Tonics, its affiliate Hydra623 Holdings LLC, and 7-Eleven. Judge Chhabria granted preliminary approval on March 5, 2025, and final approval on October 20, 2025. Botanic Tonics denied wrongdoing but agreed to add a warning label to Feel Free kratom products and social media ads stating that the product contains leaf kratom, which “can become habit-forming and cause serious adverse health effects,” and telling consumers with a history of substance abuse to consider avoiding it.¹

Importantly for anyone hurt by the drink, the settlement expressly excluded personal injury claims. Class members gave up their consumer-fraud claims but kept the right to sue individually for physical harm.¹

Who Was in the Class and What They Received

The class covered all U.S. residents who bought Feel Free tonic containing kratom between March 28, 2019, and March 5, 2025. Claimants could seek reimbursement for up to ten bottles without proof of purchase, with receipts required beyond that. The claim deadline was June 17, 2025, and payments began going out in May 2026, distributed pro rata at an estimated $10 or more per bottle.¹⁷

From the fund, the court approved $2,187,500 in attorneys’ fees, $35,000 in litigation costs, $5,000 service awards to each of the four class representatives (Torres, Sam Rosenfield, a person identified as C.C., and Paul Teitler), and up to $500,258 in settlement administration fees to RG/2.¹

The Oliveira Wrongful Death Lawsuit

On June 3, 2026, the parents of Kevin Oliveira filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Palm Beach County Circuit Court in Florida. Oliveira, 32, was found dead in his family’s home in Tequesta on April 21, 2025. The District 19 Medical Examiner determined the cause of death was “Toxic Effects of Mitragynine.” Bottles of Feel Free Classic were found with him.⁸

According to the complaint, Oliveira had experienced vomiting, lapses in consciousness, delirium, seizures, and psychosis in the months before his death. He tried treatment at a Palm Beach County detox facility but left after two days because staff could not manage his kratom dependence. He died twelve days later. The suit names Botanic Tonics and four local retailers (Rise N Vape Smoke Shop, Global Mart Tobacco and Beverages of Jupiter, and two Glass Chamber locations) and alleges strict liability, failure to warn, design defect, negligence, breach of implied warranty, and negligent misrepresentation.⁹

The family’s complaint notes that Botanic Tonics did not update its labels to warn that kratom “can become habit-forming and harmful to your health if consumed irresponsibly” until January 2024, about a year after Oliveira began using the product.⁹

The FDA Seizure Case

In May 2023, weeks after the class action was filed, U.S. Marshals and FDA investigators seized nearly 250,000 bottles of Feel Free, a tank of liquid product, more than 1,200 cartons of capsules, and over 1,000 kilograms of bulk kratom powder from the company’s Broken Arrow facility. The seized goods were valued at more than $3 million.²

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma filed a civil forfeiture complaint (case number 4:23-cv-00168), alleging the products were adulterated because kratom qualified as a “new dietary ingredient” without adequate safety data. Botanic Tonics fought back. A motion to dismiss was denied in December 2025, but on January 5, 2026, the government voluntarily dismissed the case without prejudice after the company represented that the seized products had expired, making further prosecution what the government called an imprudent use of resources.¹⁰¹¹

Botanic Tonics’ Own Lawsuit Against Utah

Not every case is against Botanic Tonics. On March 31, 2026, the company and the Global Kratom Coalition (a group founded by chairman JW Ross) filed a federal suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah (case number 2:26-cv-00267) challenging Utah’s Kratom Regulation Act, SB 45. The law bars “adulterated” kratom products, which effectively prohibits kratom mixed with other lawful dietary ingredients such as kava, targeting Feel Free’s formula. The company argued federal dietary supplement law preempted the statute and said the ban would cost it more than $10.7 million across 321 Utah retail locations.¹²

On May 4, 2026, U.S. District Judge Howard C. Nielson Jr. denied Botanic Tonics’ request for a preliminary injunction, finding it had not shown a likelihood of success on its preemption claims. The case remains pending.¹³

Why Kratom Sits at the Center of These Cases

Kratom, from a Southeast Asian tree, contains alkaloids that bind to the same opioid receptors as morphine. One of them, 7-hydroxymitragynine, is about thirteen times more potent than morphine at those receptors. The FDA has not approved kratom for any medical use, has warned about liver toxicity, seizures, and addiction, and has said kratom cannot lawfully be marketed as a dietary supplement.²

Withdrawal from regular use resembles opioid discontinuation, with muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, insomnia, anxiety, and cravings that can start within six to twelve hours and last for weeks in heavy users. Clinicians have noted the drink can trigger addictive patterns and raise relapse risk for people recovering from other substance use disorders.¹⁴

Kratom is not federally scheduled, though the DEA calls it a “drug of concern.” In July 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommended placing 7-hydroxymitragynine on Schedule I, while excluding natural kratom leaf. At the state level, seven states and the District of Columbia ban kratom outright. More than 100 kratom-related bills were introduced nationally in the 2024–2025 sessions, and thirteen were enacted in 2025, with several states imposing age limits (typically 21 and older), labeling rules, and bans on synthetic or concentrated extracts.¹⁵¹⁶

1
Feel Free Class Action. Final Approval Order and Final Judgment
2
FDA. FDA Roundup
3
ClassAction.org. Torres v. Botanic Tonics, LLC et al., Complaint
4
Los Angeles Times. A Wellness Product Was Advertised as an Alternative to Alcohol, but Hundreds Say It Ruined Their Lives
5
Courthouse News Service. Torres v. Botanic Tonics, Order on Motion to Dismiss
6
Courthouse News Service. 7-Eleven Must Face Liability Claims for Selling Drink Containing Kratom
7
ClaimDepot. Feel Free Class Action
8
CBS 12. Family of Kevin Oliveira Sues Kratom Drink Maker and Local Retailers
9
Palm Beach Post. South Florida Family Sues Kratom Seller Over Son’s Fatal Overdose
10
The Oklahoman. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma Company: FDA, U.S. Marshals Seize $3 Million Worth Kratom
11
Daily Intake Blog. Kratom Civil Forfeiture Action Voluntarily Dismissed
12
Utah News Dispatch. Maker of Feel Free Tonics Sues Utah Kratom Regulations
13
Courthouse News Service. Botanic Tonics v. Utah, Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction
14
Eleanor Health. Is the Feel Free Drink Really Safe
15
Stateline. Kratom Faces Increasing Scrutiny From States and the Feds
16
Multistate. How State Lawmakers Regulated Marijuana, Hemp, and Kratom in 2025