Wife of U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock died after ingesting white mulberry leaf

Lori McClintock, the wife of U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove), died in December after taking an herbal remedy that is touted for treating high cholesterol, according to a report Wednesday in Kaiser Health News.

McClintock died of dehydration caused by “adverse effects of white mulberry leaf ingestion,” the Sacramento County coroner said in the death report obtained by KHN.

A coroner’s office employee declined to provide the report to The Times.

White mulberry leaf is advertised as having numerous health benefits, such as lowering cholesterol, helping manage diabetes and helping “block cancer cell growth,” according to Healthline.

But the supplement can also cause vomiting and diarrhea, and McClintock’s death was caused by “gastroenteritis,” according to the coroner’s report.

The report cited by KHN was filed on March 10.

The coroner’s office ruled her death an accident. The original death certificate, dated Dec. 20, 2021, listed the cause of death as “pending,” KHN reported.

Lori McClintock was a Michigan native who practiced real estate in California. She had two children with the California congressman and also spent time working in churches.

She was 61 when she died.

Tom McClintock, a conservative Republican who previously served in the California Legislature, was elected to the 4th Congressional District in 2008 and has been reelected five times since.

“Our family’s darkest day and most terrible nightmare has come. Lori is gone,” McClintock said when his wife died. “And with her all the light, warmth, fun, friendship and love she brought everywhere she went and to everyone she met.”

The congressman and his representatives could not immediately be reached through calls to his Washington, D.C., and California offices.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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