CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Food and Drug Administration cited reports of teenagers ending up in hospital emergency rooms, or dying, after participating in the so-called “Benadryl challenge,” on TikTok.
At Amistad Community Health, Dr. Eric Baggerman tells us he’s already treated a young patient for overdosing on Benadryl.
“The misuse of Benadryl is one of the more misused over the counter drugs in a large number of age groups,” Baggerman said.
High doses can cause both short term and long-term damage.
“The truth is you can cause a lot of permanent damage and death for misusing Benadryl,” Baggerman said.
Earlier this week, Jacob Stevens, a 13-year-old boy died after taking a lot of Benadryl.
Stevens was participating in the TikTok challenge with some friends at home when he ingested the over-the-counter medicine.
16-year-old John Parrish said he knows how dangerous social media can be.
“Whenever my brother who is younger than me gets on TikTok, it worries me that he might do something he wouldn’t willingly do otherwise,” Parrish said.
Parrish is keeping a close eye on his brother and Robert Halamicek is doing the same. He has three growing kids.
He said he's trying to keep them off social media as long as possible.
"Then with the medicine, you just have to be aware. I know my 11-year-old is a lot taller and so I have to adjust where I keep thing in the house,” Halamicek said.
The FDA recommends locking up medicines to prevent accidental poisonings and misuse by teens.
