Drug Promotions Flooding Social Media: How Patients Go Blind, Suffer Stroke, Experience Kidney Failure

As healthcare costs climb, and real medicines grow harder to access, many Nigerians are turning to social media and online vendors for cheaper alternatives. But this trend is bringing dire consequences — cases of blindness, strokes, kidney failure, and in some instances, death. 

What’s going on

• Vendors on Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, and other platforms are promoting everything from “miracle” cures, anti-hypertensive herbal mixes, detox teas, fertility enhancers, to eye drops and cancer remedies — often with little or no medical oversight. 

• Many of these products are untested, counterfeit, or mislabelled. They often contain steroids, diuretics, stimulants, or other substances that aren’t disclosed, or are harmful. 

Real human costs

Several cases have been documented:

• A 23-year-old student named Amaka bought “whitening” eye drops from Instagram; initially her eyes cleared, but within weeks she had dangerously raised eye pressure and risked permanent vision loss.

• Joana, a 52-year-old trader in Lagos, stopped her prescription medication for hypertension because she trusted a herbal mix promoted online; she later suffered a stroke. 

• Temitope, 34, developed acute kidney injury after using an influencer-promoted detox tea. The product had undisclosed diuretics or laxatives. In Imo State, a young man died after taking energy-boosting capsules bought via a WhatsApp group; the autopsy linked his death to stimulants in the capsules. 

Broader implications

• Public health experts warn this isn’t just isolated misfortune. It is becoming a silent epidemic — people abandoning legitimate treatments for unverified products. 

• Regulatory bodies are under pressure. NAFDAC (National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control) has acknowledged the problem and has been trying to clamp down, with arrests, shutdowns, fines, and systems (like Scan2Verify, “Green Book” registry) to verify authentic products. 

• Still, enforcement is difficult. Small vendors, online platforms, influencers often skirt regulation. Many people are unaware of the risks. 

What needs to be done

• Increase awareness: public education about the dangers of unprescribed, unregulated drugs, encouraging people to buy only from licensed pharmacies.

• Strengthen regulation/enforcement: better monitoring of social media platforms, stricter penalties for violators.

• Improve access to affordable healthcare: reduce cost of legitimate drugs, ensure people can access them without having to resort to unsafe alternatives.

• Encourage verification tools like NAFDAC’s Green Book, or other ways to check authenticity.