Reported Reactions

Drugs › Hepatitis B virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor

Brand name · Lamivudine

Epivir: adverse event reports filed with FDA

3,208 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Class: Hepatitis B virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor.

3,208
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 143 a year
14
reports, 12 months to June 2026
30 in the 12 months before
93.1%
marked serious by the reporter
88.4% across the class
11.3%
record death among outcomes, as reported
363 reports · not verified by FDA

3,208 adverse event reports received by FDA list the brand name Epivir (lamivudine) as a suspect or interacting product, from January 2004 to June 2026. A further 2,325 reports list it only as a concomitant medication, and those are not counted in the figures on this page.

In the 12 months to June 2026, 14 reports listed it, down 53% from 30 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. Over its reporting history that is about 143 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 4.4% of the reports for the hepatitis B virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor class. How many people take it is not in the data, so a count is not a rate of occurrence.

The reactions recorded most often are foetal exposure during pregnancy (7.5%), drug exposure during pregnancy (6.8%) and pyrexia (6.3%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 1,071 different terms appear across these reports. Foetal exposure during pregnancy is recorded in 7.5% of these reports, a larger share than in the median hepatitis B virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor drug (3.2%).

93.1% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (88.4% across the class); 11.3% record death among the outcomes and 41.6% record hospitalisation, as reported. 30.9% of the reports came from physicians, and the largest patient age group is 18 to 44 (31.4%). FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event."

Reports by month, five years

0917Jul 2021: 3Aug 2021: 11Sep 2021: 14Oct 2021: 5Nov 2021: 14Dec 2021: 42022Jan 2022: 8Feb 2022: 5Mar 2022: 8Apr 2022: 2May 2022: 0Jun 2022: 4Jul 2022: 2Aug 2022: 8Sep 2022: 1Oct 2022: 4Nov 2022: 5Dec 2022: 42023Jan 2023: 0Feb 2023: 2Mar 2023: 2Apr 2023: 10May 2023: 5Jun 2023: 17Jul 2023: 2Aug 2023: 9Sep 2023: 13Oct 2023: 5Nov 2023: 5Dec 2023: 22024Jan 2024: 0Feb 2024: 0Mar 2024: 5Apr 2024: 2May 2024: 4Jun 2024: 4Jul 2024: 5Aug 2024: 2Sep 2024: 2Oct 2024: 0Nov 2024: 7Dec 2024: 22025Jan 2025: 3Feb 2025: 1Mar 2025: 7Apr 2025: 1May 2025: 0Jun 2025: 0Jul 2025: 4Aug 2025: 0Sep 2025: 2Oct 2025: 0Nov 2025: 2Dec 2025: 12026Jan 2026: 0Feb 2026: 0Mar 2026: 2Apr 2026: 1May 2026: 0Jun 2026: 2

Reports by the month FDA received them. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases.

By year received

01502992004: 27520042005: 2992006: 2772007: 17420072008: 2242009: 1522010: 11920102011: 892012: 1612013: 9520132014: 1052015: 2092016: 23920162017: 1232018: 962019: 16020192020: 1092021: 1072022: 5120222023: 722024: 332025: 2120252026: 5

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Epivir reports recording the termmedian drug in hepatitis b virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor

  1. Foetal exposure during pregnancythe unborn baby was exposed to the medicine7.5%240
  2. Drug exposure during pregnancythe medicine was taken during pregnancy6.8%217
  3. Pyrexiafever6.3%203
  4. Anaemialow red blood cells5.6%179
  5. Renal impairmentreduced kidney function4%129
  6. Nauseafeeling sick3.7%120
  7. Diarrhoealoose or frequent stools3.7%118
  8. Immune reconstitution syndrome3.6%117
  9. Vomitingbeing sick3.2%104
  10. Abortion spontaneousmiscarriage3.1%101
  11. Abdominal painstomach or belly pain3.1%98
  12. Neutropenialow neutrophils, a type of white blood cell2.7%86
  13. Premature babya baby born early2.6%84
  14. Deaththe patient died; cause not stated by this term2.6%83
  15. Renal failurekidney failure2.5%81
  16. Dyspnoeashortness of breath2.4%78
  17. Pregnancypregnancy2.3%74
  18. Lactic acidosisa build-up of lactic acid in the blood2.3%73
  19. Alanine aminotransferase increasedraised liver enzyme (ALT)2.2%72
  20. Aspartate aminotransferase increasedraised liver enzyme (AST)2.2%72
  21. Diabetes mellitusdiabetes2.2%71
  22. Hepatitis Bhepatitis B infection2.2%70
  23. Hypertensionhigh blood pressure2.2%70
  24. Maternal exposure during pregnancythe mother took the medicine during pregnancy2.2%70
  25. Rashskin rash2%65
  26. Astheniaweakness or lack of energy2%64
  27. Condition aggravatedthe condition being treated got worse2%64
  28. Lipodystrophy acquiredchanges in body fat distribution1.9%62

Top 30 of 1,071 MedDRA preferred terms recorded across these reports, with a plain-language gloss where one is available. One report can record several terms. The hollow bar is the median share across the 12 drugs in the hepatitis b virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor class; it describes the reports, not the patients. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Outcomes recorded

Death11.3%363
Life-threatening5.3%171
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)41.6%1,334
Disability3.6%117
Congenital anomaly6.5%207
Other serious56.6%1,817
Not serious6.9%222

Outcome flags as the reporter set them; a report can carry several, and "other serious" is FDA's own category for serious reports outside the named outcomes. Grey bar: all 72,523 reports in the class. FDA has not verified any outcome and states that the reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events."

Patients and reporters

Patient age

Under 26.2%198
2 to 111.4%46
12 to 170.8%26
18 to 4431.4%1,007
45 to 6422.3%715
65 to 743.7%118
75 and over1%32
Age not given33.2%1,066

Patient sex

Female31.1%999
Male57%1,828
Not given11.9%381

Who reported

Physician30.9%991
Pharmacist2.8%89
Other health professional24.8%796
Lawyer0.4%13
Consumer or non-health professional30.5%978
Not given10.6%341

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 23.2% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Hiv infection1,88058.6%
Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome1294%
Antiretroviral therapy682.1%
Hepatitis b591.8%
Antiviral prophylaxis511.6%
Antiviral treatment321%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 3,208 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Epivir reports
Viread63919.9%
Norvir62919.6%
Kaletra57918%
Tivicay2778.6%
Isentress2718.4%
Sustiva2557.9%
Efavirenz2337.3%
Stavudine2307.2%
Truvada1936%
Bactrim1625%

Other products listed in reports where Epivir is a suspect product, whatever their own role. Co-listing means the two were recorded together; it says nothing about either product's part in the event. Only the 2,500 most-reported names are counted here.

In context

MeasureEpivirHepatitis B virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitorAll reports
Reports as suspect product3,20872,52320,646,523
Share of that pool—4.4%0%
Reports, latest 12 months14—1,332,454
Marked serious93.1%88.4%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports1138991
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports416200213
Consumer-filed share30.5%21.1%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsFoetal exposure during pregnancy 7.5%median 3.2%0.4%

Shares are of reports, not of patients treated. The number of people taking a product is not in the data, so none of these figures is a rate, and differences between columns reflect who takes a product, who reports and how long it has been sold. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic."

Other drugs in the hepatitis b virus nucleoside analog reverse transcriptase inhibitor class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
Vireadbrand22,03319594.5%
Lamivudinegeneric17,96627197.6%
Tenofovir disoproxil fumarategeneric7,40015097.4%
Triumeqbrand4,8238145.7%
Combivirbrand4,3671192.2%
Baracludebrand3,3082577.8%
Dovatobrand3,05925333.4%
Entecavirgeneric2,79716387.1%
Lamivudine and zidovudinegeneric1,432884.2%
Adefovir dipivoxilgeneric1,156399.2%
Tenofovir alafenamidegeneric97413997.3%

Ordered by report count for navigation only. FDA states that adverse event reports "represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product", that "common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product", and that the data "by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic." A brand and its generic are separate rows because reporters name them separately.

Questions about Epivir reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Epivir?

3,208 reports list Epivir as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 14 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 2,325 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Epivir reports?

foetal exposure during pregnancy (7.5%), drug exposure during pregnancy (6.8%), pyrexia (6.3%), anaemia (5.6%) and renal impairment (4%). These are MedDRA preferred terms coded from what the reporter described; a report can list several, and a term's presence is not a finding that Epivir was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

93.1% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 11.3% of reports include death and 41.6% include hospitalisation. FDA has not verified these outcomes and states that the reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence" of the events.

Who files these reports?

physician (30.9%), consumer or non-health professional (30.5%) and other health professional (24.8%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Epivir rising?

14 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 53% from 30 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. Counts also move with how many people take a product, its time on the market and publicity.

Do these reports show that Epivir was responsible for these reactions?

No. FDA states that "a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report" and that for any given report "there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event." The reaction may relate to the condition being treated, to other medicines, or to something else.

Is this a list of the side effects of Epivir?

No. It is a count of what was reported to FDA. The adverse reactions observed in clinical studies are printed on the FDA-approved label, which a pharmacist or clinician can go through with you.

How do I report an adverse event?

Consumers and health professionals can report to FDA through MedWatch (Form FDA 3500 online, or 1-800-FDA-1088), or to the manufacturer, which must pass reports on. See the guide on how to report.

Where this comes from. Counts are built from the openFDA Drug Adverse Event (FAERS) bulk export released 28 Sep 2026, which holds reports FDA received through 30 Jun 2026. Drug names are as reported, resolved to the brand or generic name on the FDA label where openFDA's harmonisation matched them; classes are the pharmacologic class (EPC) from the label and the National Drug Code Directory of 17 Sep 2026. A report counts here when it lists Epivir as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (2,325) are excluded. 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.