A New Zealand woman who had a small chicken bone lodged in her throat says she was prescribed an unusual remedy by an ER doctor: drink lots of Coke. Beth Brash said it all started when she visited her favorite restaurant and tried their new chicken dish. When asked by the staff if she was okay with bones in the dish, she didn’t object. Unfortunately, while eating the spicy dish, Brash began experiencing a sort of tickling in her throat, which turned out to be a small piece of chicken bone. Although somewhat alarmed, Brash decided not to make a scene at the restaurant. Assuming it would eventually go away, she fought through the pain the entire weekend. When the pain was still there on Monday, she went to the emergency room, where she was examined and told that she did, in fact, have a small piece of chicken bone lodged in her throat. The ENT specialist told her that it wasn’t a cause for concern and recommended that she drink 4 cans of Coca-Cola to dissolve it. Brash was surprised by the unorthodox remedy, but went to the supermarket and bought 4 Cokes. To her amazement, she started feeling better the next morning, and by the following day she was completely back to normal. It’s common knowledge that Coke is an acidic drink that can break down tooth enamel, so it stands to reason that a chicken bone would also dissolve with enough Coke. The good news is that Brash avoided an endoscopy and surgery. Brash decided to perform her own experiment by leaving chicken bones in Coke for a few days. She was surprised at how quickly the bones began to disintegrate. Referring to the Coke as “human Drano,” Brash said she feels confident now that if she even encounters a chicken bone problem in the future, she can skip the ER visit.
