{"id":912941,"date":"2026-11-10T23:56:15","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T23:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/912941\/"},"modified":"2026-11-10T23:56:15","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T23:56:15","slug":"viral-heightmaxxing-trend-has-teen-boys-taking-cancer-drugs-to-grow-taller-despite-doctors-warnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/912941\/","title":{"rendered":"Viral \u2018heightmaxxing\u2019 trend has teen boys taking cancer drugs to grow taller despite doctors’ warnings"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medical experts\u00a0are warning of a dangerous new social media trend<\/a> known as \u201cheightmaxxing,\u201d amid reports that teenagers are taking black-market cancer medications in an effort to grow taller.<\/p>\n

Adolescents, primarily teenage boys, are reportedly turning to erdafitinib \u2014 often referred to online as \u201cERDA\u201d or \u201cErta\u201d \u2014 a targeted prescription drug approved to treat advanced bladder cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Teenagers are reportedly experimenting with the\u00a0prescription medication\u00a0after encountering online discussions suggesting it could increase height.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s extremely concerning that teenagers are experimenting with powerful\u00a0cancer medications\u00a0in an attempt to grow taller,\u201d Dr. Stephanie Widmer, a New York City-based emergency medicine physician and Fox News medical contributor, told Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese drugs were developed to treat serious medical conditions, not to enhance physical appearance, and taking them without a legitimate medical indication or physician supervision can have devastating consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The drug maker, Johnson & Johnson, pushed back against the practice in a statement to<\/a> Rolling Stone, emphasizing that the medication has never been approved to stimulate height growth and that its safety and effectiveness have not been established for any\u00a0pediatric or adolescent use.<\/p>\n

Medical research has documented unexpected growth spurts in children receiving erdafitinib for\u00a0brain tumors. A 2024 study published in<\/a> Hormone Research in Paediatrics described accelerated growth in two pediatric patients, while a separate case report documented a teenager who grew more than 5 inches during treatment but developed serious skeletal complications.<\/p>\n

Callout:<\/p>\n

Physicians caution that these spurts do not equal healthy skeletal growth. Dr. Jessica Gray, a family physician in Lubbock, Texas, warned that forced, rapid growth can trigger dangerous structural problems, including premature growth plate damage and bone fractures.<\/p>\n

The drug works by blocking specific cellular signaling pathways involved in cancer cell growth, Widmer shared during an appearance on Fox News\u2019 \u201cAmerica\u2019s Newsroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ADoctors warn that teens taking erdafitinib, a cancer drug, to grow taller in a trend called heightmaxxing face severe health risks. Yistocking \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Those same pathways also play a role in bone development, which may help explain why some pediatric patients experienced unexpected growth during treatment.<\/p>\n

Widmer noted that height is overwhelmingly\u00a0governed by genetics, and biological shortcuts do not exist. Once growth plates close near the end of puberty, medications cannot reopen them, meaning older adolescents taking the compound are incurring catastrophic health hazards without any chance of gaining height, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the biggest concerns is that these medications can cause serious side effects, including potentially permanent\u00a0vision damage, elevated phosphate levels and other metabolic abnormalities,\u201d Widmer said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about adolescents whose bodies are still developing, and exposing them to these risks for a cosmetic goal is particularly troubling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AJohnson & Johnson, the drug maker of the cancer drug known online as \u201cERDA,\u201d published a statement to Rolling Stone that the medication was never been approved to stimulate height growth. Supapich \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

Other warning signs and side effects linked to the medication include skeletal pain \u2014 especially in the hips or knees \u2014 as well as mouth sores, loose nails and skin disorders.<\/p>\n

The trend has also raised concerns about the influence of social media on teenagers\u2019 decisions about their health. Widmer noted that online discussions about\u00a0physical appearance\u00a0and self-improvement can expose young men to potentially unsafe practices that lack medical evidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cParents need to understand that this goes beyond teenagers being insecure about their height,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re talking about young people potentially obtaining prescription cancer medications and experimenting with them outside of medical supervision. If a child has concerns about their growth, that conversation belongs in a pediatrician\u2019s office, not on an internet forum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doctors advise parents to watch for symptoms such as unusual joint pain or unexplained physical changes, and to speak with their children if they suspect they are using medications obtained online.<\/p>\n

Teenagers concerned about their height or growth should\u00a0consult a pediatrician\u00a0before considering any medication.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be encouraging teenagers to\u00a0prioritize their health, not teaching them to gamble with it,\u201d Widmer said. \u201cNo amount of additional height is worth risking permanent damage to your vision or other serious and potentially unknown medical complications.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Medical experts\u00a0are warning of a dangerous new social media trend known as \u201cheightmaxxing,\u201d amid reports that teenagers are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":912942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[3281,2605,97,252,253,149,18224],"class_list":["post-912941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health-care","tag-doctors","tag-drugs","tag-health","tag-health-care","tag-healthcare","tag-lifestyle","tag-teens"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=912941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/912941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/912942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=912941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=912941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=912941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}