‘My family has to take turns buying Claritin D 24 allergy pills.’
A Texas woman struggling with a cold goes to H-E-B to stock up on DayQuil and NyQuil. She is stunned when she learns she inadvertently hit a limit.
TikTok creator Julie Ann Douglas (@julieannsurratt) posted a video that explains exactly what happened. “So if you shop at H-E-B for your medicine, you might want to hear this,” she says.
Douglas reveals she was in the medicine aisle at H-E-B with the intention of stocking up on her household DayQuil.
She found a coupon that said customers who purchased $25 worth of medicine could get $5 off their basket. “But of course, it had to be specific brands,” she says.
Why This Texas Woman Tried Stocking Up on NyQuil Products
“Now my husband is very particular that he doesn’t like store-brand NyQuil and DayQuil,” she says. “He likes the name brand. And typically, there is a two-pack. However, the two-pack comes with cherry, and he likes the green flavor. So I have to buy them separately. So that right there is about $22.”
She continues, “I could’ve bought another bottle of NyQuil or DayQuil to reach the required amount to qualify for the coupon, but I decided to opt for the H-E-B-brand DayQuil-type pills. So, I wasn’t going to be able to use that coupon.”
Douglas says that when she arrived at the checkout, the cashier started scanning her items as usual—until he got to the third medicine product.
“Mind you, I’m stocking up. I don’t wanna make another trip if I don’t have to,” she says. “I like to keep some DayQuil in my nightstand or in my car. And then he says [I’ve] reached [my] limit on, I guess, medicine products.”
Why Couldn’t She Use the Coupon on NyQuil?
Douglas then questioned if there was a way she could’ve used the $5 off coupon on DayQuil products.
“So, I’m over here like, hmm, if I had used the name-brand coupon and reached the $25 or more, would they have been like, ‘No, you can’t use this coupon because you’re buying too much medicine’? But I get it. No company wants to be caught selling too much medicine, and someone potentially hurts themselves.”
She adds that a clear sign in the aisle noting this limit on DayQuil products “would’ve gone a long way.”
To end the video, Douglas says, “So, anyway, as someone who’s relatively sick right now, I was denied more than two pieces of medicine. I guess I reached my limit. I still love H-E-B, but did that perturb me? Yes, yes it did.”
Did She Hit a Limit on Medicine or Specifically NyQuil?
In the comments section of the video, several people noted that the limit Douglas reached is likely with regard to the active ingredient in NyQuil.
“It’s not all medicine,” one person explained. “It’s a certain ingredient that there is a limit [on]. It’s the law, not an HEB thing.”
The commenter is correct. The Vicks-made product features a formula that includes the cough suppressant dextromethorphan, and that is the reason for the over-the-counter limit on purchases.
Back in 2019, the Texas Legislature approved a law that instituted the over-18 designation for the cough suppressant. The law is intended to keep children from using the medication as a recreational drug. Of course, that decision comes with tradeoffs to public health, such as someone over 18 being able to stock up on their preferred allergy medication.
AllHipHop contacted Douglas via TikTok comment and direct message for comment. We also contacted H-E-B via email for comment. We will update this story upon receiving a response.
@julieannsurratt #psa #heb #medicine #fy @H-E-B ♬ original sound – Julie Ann Douglas
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