A tweet by Conan 'O Brien about the milk crate challenge has prompted the Food and Drug Administration to address the craze that has swept the nation and caused dozens of injuries.
Taking to Twitter, O'Brien wrote that he was "Waiting for FDA approval before I take the Milk Crate Challenge." It was not long before the FDA weighed in on the matter.
"Although we regulate milk, we can't recommend you try that. Perhaps enjoy a nice glass of 2% and return all those crates to the grocery store?" the agency replied.
The FDA's response comes as the milk crate challenge dominates multiple social media platforms. The aim is for the social media user to stack milk crates on top of each other like a pyramid and then walk across the crates without them collapsing and causing the person to fall off. Medical experts have cautioned against participating in the challenge.
"The milk crate challenge [...] poses a high risk of exposing yourself to orthopedic injuries as well as injuries to the head and neck as a result of falling from heights onto the ground or the crates themselves which can puncture the skin," said a U.K. based general surgeon, Dr. Karan Rangarajan, whose posts on TikTok have garnered 4 million followers, according to Insider.
"Injuries can range from broken bones, ligament injuries and dislocations to potentially life-threatening ones such as spinal cord injuries or intracranial bleeds [which is] a bleed inside the skull."
Speaking with Today, New York orthopedic surgeon Dr. Shawn Anthony listed the various injuries one could suffer by falling while attempting the challenge.
"Injuries can include broken wrists, shoulder dislocations, ACL and meniscus tears, as well as life-threatening conditions like spinal cord injuries," he said. In addition to physical threats, the viral social media challenge is also straining the health care system.
"Emergency rooms across the country are already overcrowded and elective surgeries are being delayed or postponed due to lack of hospital beds," he continued. "This social medial challenge puts unnecessary additional stress on our health system and health care providers."
On Twitter, George Gantsoudes, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon in Virginia, added that the orthopedic surgeries required to "fix problems caused by this may fall under the umbrella of 'elective surgeries.'"
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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