Pack, hot or cold, disposable: medical device reports filed with FDA

4,430 reports carry this product code, 1993–2026; 10 brands with a page.

Read first · FDA's statement on these data

Adverse event reports submitted to FDA do not undergo extensive validation or verification. Therefore, a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report. While a suspected relationship may exist, it is not medically validated and should not be the sole source of information for clinical decision making or other assumptions about the safety or efficacy of a product. Additionally, it is important to remember that adverse event reports represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product. Common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product. openFDA, FDA

FDA adds: "Although MDRs are a valuable source of information, this passive surveillance system has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data. In addition, the incidence or prevalence of an event cannot be determined from this reporting system alone due to potential under-reporting of events and lack of information about frequency of device use." And: "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices."

Do not rely on openFDA to make decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated.

Not medical advice. This site counts what was reported to FDA. Questions about a medicine or device belong with a pharmacist or clinician.

4,430
reports with this product code: 0% of all MAUDE reports; 206
reports, 12 months to August 2026: 74 in the 12 months before; 23.5%
classified as malfunction: 62.3% across all reports; 0.2%
classified as death, as reported: 0.9% across all reports

Product code IMD is FDA's classification for "Pack, hot or cold, disposable" (physical Medicine panel), a class 1 device. 4,430 medical device reports carry this product code, 0% of the MAUDE database, from February 1993 to August 2026.

206 reports arrived in the 12 months to August 2026, up 178% from 74 in the 12 months before. FDA releases MAUDE data monthly; reports can arrive months after an event, so the newest months grow in later releases. The event types recorded are injury (50.3%), other (25%) and malfunction (23.5%). 10 brand names with a page on this site carry this code; the brands table is ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices." It adds that the reporting system "has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data."

Brands with this product code

Brand	Reports	Latest 12 months	Classified as death	Classified as malfunction
Icy Hot Heat Therapy Patch	842	0	0.1%	0%
Thermacare Lower Back & Hip	720	9	0.4%	13.5%
Thermacare Neck Shoulder & Wrist	288	0	0.3%	19.1%
Thermacare Menstrual	215	4	0%	23.7%
Thermacare Heatwrap	161	0	0.6%	10.5%
Cardinal Health	45	185	0.2%	89.8%
Sunbeam	3	29	0.4%	55%
McKesson Brands	2	75	0%	83.1%
Novation	1	23	0.4%	8.1%
Thermophore	1	0	0.1%	95.8%

Ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices." It adds that the reporting system "has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data."

Manufacturers named

Manufacturer (as written on reports)	Reports	Share
Pfizer Consumer Health Care	1,549	35%
Chattem	1,003	22.6%
Cardinal Health 200	148	3.3%
Cardinal Health	100	2.3%
Becton Dickinson	95	2.1%
Medline Industries	77	1.7%
Allegiance Healthcare	41	0.9%
Coopersurgical	17	0.4%
Deroyal Industries	14	0.3%
Kimberly-Clark	4	0.1%
Biomet Microfixation	2	0%
3m	1	0%

Reports by month, five years

FDA releases MAUDE data monthly; reports can arrive months after an event, so the newest months grow in later releases.

Event type and report source

Event type

Death0.2%11

Injury50.3%2,230

Malfunction23.5%1,041

Other25%1,107

Not given0.9%41

Who filed

Manufacturer report82%3,633

Voluntary report9.2%406

User facility report0%0

Distributor report1.9%85

Not given6.9%306

Grey bar: all 26,136,888 MAUDE reports.

Device problems coded

Device problem (FDA code)	Reports	Share
Insufficient device problem information	629	14.2%
Leak/splashthe device leaked	330	7.4%
Improper or incorrect procedure or method	298	6.7%
Burst container or vessel	284	6.4%
Overheating of device	125	2.8%
Fluid/blood leak	120	2.7%
Patient-device incompatibilitythe device did not suit the patient	102	2.3%
Breakthe device broke	99	2.2%
Temperature problem	95	2.1%
Device operates differently than expectedthe device behaved unexpectedly	89	2%
Excessive heating	88	2%
Nonstandard device	83	1.9%
Difficult to removethe device was hard to remove	63	1.4%
Material rupture	61	1.4%
Explosion	45	1%
Defective devicethe device was defective	44	1%
Explode	41	0.9%
Insufficient heating	41	0.9%
Unintended ejection	39	0.9%
Product quality problem	34	0.8%

Questions about pack, hot or cold, disposable reports

What is product code IMD?

FDA's classification code for "Pack, hot or cold, disposable", class 1, reviewed by the physical Medicine panel. Every device report carries the product code of the device involved.

How many reports carry this code?

4,430 reports through August 2026, 206 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which brands appear most often?

Icy Hot Heat Therapy Patch (842), Thermacare Lower Back & Hip (720), Thermacare Neck Shoulder & Wrist (288), Thermacare Menstrual (215) and Thermacare Heatwrap (161). Widely used products collect more reports because more people use them.

Can the brands table be used to rank the devices?

No. FDA states that "MDR data alone cannot be used to establish rates of events, evaluate a change in event rates over time or compare event rates between devices. The number of reports cannot be interpreted or used in isolation to reach conclusions about the existence, severity, or frequency of problems associated with devices." It adds that the reporting system "has limitations, including the potential submission of incomplete, inaccurate, untimely, unverified, or biased data." Brands differ in how many are in use, how long they have been sold and how reports are collected.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Device Adverse Event (MAUDE) bulk export released 28 Sep 2026, which holds reports FDA received through 31 Aug 2026. Brand, generic and manufacturer names are as written on the reports; product code names come from FDA's device classification. No report narrative, lot number, patient detail or reporter identity is published. See the methodology and sources; FDA's record is authoritative, and corrections are handled within five working days.

Drug data (FAERS) through 30 Jun 2026; device data (MAUDE) through 31 Aug 2026. Not medical advice.