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Medicine social media trends overview:
- Who: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning about participating in viral challenges that misuse nonprescription medication, such as NyQuil and Benadryl.
- Why: The FDA issued its warning following a new social media trend of “NyQuil chicken challenge” videos urging viewers to cook chicken with NyQuil.
- Where: The social media trends occur nationwide.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned consumers earlier this month about the dangers of misusing nonprescription medicine while attempting to mimic social media trends or online challenges.
The warning comes amidst a rise in video clips depicting people misusing nonprescription medications, such as cooking chicken with NyQuil, while urging viewers to participate as well.
The FDA warns that the “NyQuil chicken challenge,” for example, is not only “silly and unappetizing” but can also be “very unsafe.”
“Boiling a medication can make it much more concentrated and change its properties in other ways,” the FDA says.
The FDA says cooking chicken with NyQuil can also damage a person’s lungs and lead to someone consuming an unsafe amount of the cough and cold medicine unintentionally and unknowingly.
FDA warns that ‘NyQuil chicken challenge’ can result in inhaling dangerous medicinal vapors
“Even if you don’t eat the chicken, inhaling the medication’s vapors while cooking could cause high levels of the drugs to enter your body,” the FDA says.
The FDA also cites a previous TikTok challenge in which viewers were urged to consume a large amount of diphenhydramine medicine — commonly sold as Benadryl, among other drugs — to attempt to hallucinate.
The TikTok videos led to a number of reports of teenagers visiting the emergency room or even dying after participating in the challenge and unknowingly taking too much of the medicine, according to the FDA.
The FDA would ultimately issue a warning to the public about the dangers of consuming too much diphenhydramine in response to the challenge and subsequent reports of adverse health effects.
Parents are urged to keep both their prescription and nonprescription medications locked up and away from children to prevent an accidental overdose.
“Sit down with your children and discuss the dangers of misusing drugs and how social media trends can lead to real, sometimes irreversible, damage,” the FDA says.
Parents who believe their child may be experiencing a medicine overdose are urged to immediately call 911 or contact poison control online or by phone at 1-800-222-1222.
Have you or your child participated in a viral challenge you believe was dangerous? Let us know in the comments!
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