Congressman’s Wife Died After Taking Herbal Remedy
WASHINGTON — The wife of Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., died late last year after ingesting an herbal remedy commonly used to control weight, diabetes and high cholesterol.
The contents of Lori McClintock’s updated death certificate were originally reported by Samantha Young of Kaiser Health News.
When McClintock died, shortly before Christmas last year, the original cause of death on her death certificate was listed as “pending.”
In March, the Sacramento County coroner amended the death certificate to say McClintock died from dehydration due to gastroenteritis that was caused by “adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion.”
Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
The updated findings were not immediately released to the public.
According to the coroner’s report, McClintock found his 61-year-old wife unresponsive at their Elk Grove, California, home on Dec. 15, 2021.
McClintock had just returned home from Washington after voting on several measures the day before.
The coroner’s report does not specify whether Lori McClintock took a dietary supplement containing white mulberry leaf, ate fresh or dried leaves, or drank them in a tea, but a “partially intact” white mulberry leaf was found in her stomach, according to the Kaiser Health News report.
McClintock has made no public comment on the report.
In a statement posted to Facebook last year, the representative said, “We are devastated and our world is shattered. Only those who knew her can understand the enormity of the tragedy of her passing for her family and many friends.”
Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue.
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