A 37-year-old Genentech scientist died in his San Francisco home last month of an overdose from a dangerous new opioid found in products sold openly in smoke shops and gas stations, according to a medical examiner’s report.
The report identified Robert Schuldt as the first person in the city to die of an accidental overdose from MGM-15, a synthetic drug derived from kratom, a psychoactive plant. MGM-15 was detected in Schuldt’s blood, and investigators found an empty package of a product called “cat’s claw botanical extract” among his belongings.
Schuldt’s unusually heavy snoring woke his fiancé around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 22, the medical examiner’s report said. His fiancé moved to the living room couch and fell asleep…