Lawsuit: Man died from dietary supplement known a 'gas station heroin' bought at Sunoco in Carlisle Twp.

A wrongful death and product liability lawsuit has been filed in Lorain County Common Pleas Court by the mother of a man who died after ingesting a dietary supplement he purchased at a Carlisle Township gas station. Karen Haggarty filed suit June 4 on behalf of her son Christopher Haggarty's estate against Neptune Resources LLC of Sheridan, Wyoming, and RO 2091 Grafton Inc., doing business as K&B Sunoco at 2091 Grafton Road. The lawsuit seeks at least $25,000 in compensatory and punitive damages per claim for each of four claims, including product liability and wrongful death, mental anguish and pain and suffering, and negligence. The civil case is assigned to Judge Christopher Rothgery's court. Karen Haggarty is represented by attorney Jordan Lebovitz, a partner of the Cleveland personal injury law firm Nurenberg, Paris, Heller & McCarthy. Court records did not list attorneys representing Neptune Resources LLC or RO 2091 Grafton Inc. The lawsuit alleges that Neptune Resources makes a "dietary supplement" called "Neptune's Fix Elixir" that it markets as "happiness in a bottle," which contains a substance called tianeptine. Tianeptine, according to the lawsuit and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, is used in some countries as a low-grade antidepressant but is not approved for use in the United States. The lawsuit states that tianeptine goes by another, informal name: "Gas station heroin." Though it is not approved for medical use in the U.S., "some companies are illegally marketing and selling products containing tianeptine to consumers," according to the FDA. "They are also making dangerous and unproven claims that tianeptine can improve brain function and treat anxiety, depression, pain, opioid use disorder, and other conditions." The FDA specifically warned consumers not to buy Neptune's Fix in a news release dated Nov. 11. Users were experiencing seizures, loss of consciousness and in some cases being hospitalized, according to the FDA. Poison control centers in the U.S. have reported an increase in cases involving the drug, from 11 total between 2000 and 2013 to 151 cases in 2020 alone, according to a warning on the FDA's website. Christopher Haggarty, 37, died Nov. 5, after ingesting a single bottle of Neptune's Fix he bought at the K&B Sunoco. The Lorain County Coroner's Office ruled his death was caused by tianeptine and synthetic cannabinoid toxicity, according to the lawsuit. "As a result of Christopher Haggarty's wrongful death, his minor child will grow up without a father," according to the lawsuit. The first FDA warnings about the drug came out in 2018, according to the lawsuit, and in 2022 Gov. Mike DeWine signed an executive order authorizing the Ohio Board of Pharmacy to classify it as a controlled substance. State pharmacy regulators informed retailers including K&B Sunoco of the change in state law on Dec. 22, 2022, according to the lawsuit.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.