Reported Reactions

Drugs › Serotonin reuptake inhibitor

Generic name

Escitalopram oxalate: adverse event reports filed with FDA

5,063 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Class: Serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Also reported as Escitalopram Oxalate Tablet, Escitalopram Oxalate 20mg Tab, Escitalopram Oxalate Tablets.

5,063
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 226 a year
399
reports, 12 months to June 2026
523 in the 12 months before
92.8%
marked serious by the reporter
83.7% across the class
14.5%
record death among outcomes, as reported
732 reports · not verified by FDA

5,063 adverse event reports received by FDA list escitalopram oxalate, a generic name as a suspect or interacting product, from February 2004 to June 2026. A further 10,180 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, 399 reports listed it, down 24% from 523 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 226 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 1.9% of the reports for the serotonin reuptake inhibitor class. How many people take it is not in the data, so a count is not a rate of occurrence.

Reporters most often recorded drug ineffective (10.1%), dyspnoea (9.9%) and drug interaction (9.7%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 1,092 different terms appear across these reports. Drug ineffective is recorded in 10.1% of these reports, a larger share than in the median serotonin reuptake inhibitor drug (7.9%).

92.8% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (83.7% across the class); 14.5% record death among the outcomes and 43.3% record hospitalisation, as reported. 35.6% of the reports came from other health professionals, and the largest patient age group is 18 to 44 (21.8%). 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

04895Jul 2021: 42Aug 2021: 40Sep 2021: 30Oct 2021: 65Nov 2021: 64Dec 2021: 612022Jan 2022: 45Feb 2022: 52Mar 2022: 95Apr 2022: 62May 2022: 45Jun 2022: 47Jul 2022: 52Aug 2022: 58Sep 2022: 52Oct 2022: 64Nov 2022: 80Dec 2022: 472023Jan 2023: 69Feb 2023: 51Mar 2023: 67Apr 2023: 61May 2023: 53Jun 2023: 35Jul 2023: 29Aug 2023: 55Sep 2023: 28Oct 2023: 45Nov 2023: 40Dec 2023: 542024Jan 2024: 39Feb 2024: 58Mar 2024: 69Apr 2024: 69May 2024: 84Jun 2024: 75Jul 2024: 43Aug 2024: 48Sep 2024: 53Oct 2024: 54Nov 2024: 40Dec 2024: 342025Jan 2025: 35Feb 2025: 43Mar 2025: 52Apr 2025: 36May 2025: 45Jun 2025: 40Jul 2025: 35Aug 2025: 32Sep 2025: 25Oct 2025: 50Nov 2025: 43Dec 2025: 292026Jan 2026: 16Feb 2026: 27Mar 2026: 30Apr 2026: 38May 2026: 42Jun 2026: 32

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

03506992004: 2220042005: 1022006: 1282007: 9020072008: 1212009: 662010: 13220102011: 2232012: 1632013: 4320132014: 542015: 572016: 7020162017: 1282018: 2122019: 21920192020: 2032021: 4282022: 69920222023: 5872024: 6662025: 46520252026: 185

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Escitalopram oxalate reports recording the termmedian drug in serotonin reuptake inhibitor

  1. Drug ineffectivethe medicine did not work as expected10.1%510
  2. Dyspnoeashortness of breath9.9%500
  3. Drug interactionan interaction between medicines9.7%493
  4. Headachehead pain9.5%479
  5. Suicide attempta suicide attempt9%456
  6. Condition aggravatedthe condition being treated got worse8.6%436
  7. Nauseafeeling sick7.5%381
  8. Intentional overdosea deliberate overdose7.3%372
  9. Somnolencedrowsiness7.2%366
  10. Fatiguetiredness7%353
  11. Dizzinesslight-headedness or unsteadiness6.8%344
  12. Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label6.4%325
  13. Falla fall6%302
  14. Anxietyanxiety5.7%287
  15. Serotonin syndrometoo much serotonin activity, with agitation, fever and tremor5.6%282
  16. Vomitingbeing sick5.5%279
  17. Coughcough5.5%277
  18. Insomniadifficulty sleeping5.2%264
  19. Tachycardiafast heart rate5.2%264
  20. Diarrhoealoose or frequent stools5%254
  21. Malaisegeneral feeling of being unwell5%251
  22. Asthmaasthma4.8%243
  23. Completed suicidedeath by suicide4.7%236
  24. Product use in unapproved indicationused for a purpose not on the label4.6%232
  25. Astheniaweakness or lack of energy4.4%225
  26. Arthralgiajoint pain4.3%220
  27. Abdominal painstomach or belly pain4.1%210
  28. Coma4.1%210

Top 30 of 1,092 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 21 drugs in the serotonin reuptake 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

Death14.5%732
Life-threatening9.2%465
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)43.3%2,191
Disability4.5%228
Congenital anomaly2%100
Other serious61.5%3,114
Not serious7.2%367

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 273,115 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 20.5%27
2 to 110.2%9
12 to 172%100
18 to 4421.8%1,102
45 to 6416.9%857
65 to 7410.2%518
75 and over10.8%546
Age not given37.6%1,904

Patient sex

Female52%2,635
Male30.1%1,524
Not given17.9%904

Who reported

Physician25.1%1,271
Pharmacist10.7%541
Other health professional35.6%1,803
Lawyer0.2%12
Consumer or non-health professional24.8%1,256
Not given3.6%180

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 18.5% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Depression1,00919.9%
Anxiety2635.2%
Migraine1012%
Major depression721.4%
Mental disorder440.9%
Mixed anxiety and depressive disorder350.7%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 5,063 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Escitalopram oxalate reports
Acetaminophen77615.3%
Venlafaxine hydrochloride55611%
Tramadol hydrochloride50410%
Aspirin4789.4%
Prednisone4659.2%
Fluoxetine hydrochloride4268.4%
Esomeprazole4118.1%
Dutasteride3887.7%
Albuterol3857.6%
Mirtazapine3847.6%

Other products listed in reports where Escitalopram oxalate 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

MeasureEscitalopram oxalateSerotonin reuptake inhibitorAll reports
Reports as suspect product5,063273,11520,646,523
Share of that pool—1.9%0%
Reports, latest 12 months399—1,332,454
Marked serious92.8%83.7%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports14515991
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports433321213
Consumer-filed share24.8%30.8%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsDrug ineffective 10.1%median 7.9%6.3%

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 serotonin reuptake inhibitor class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
Sertralinegeneric44,8143,71493%
Citalopramgeneric30,4141,16995.2%
Fluoxetinegeneric28,3191,73493%
Paxilbrand24,1935657%
Escitalopramgeneric24,1761,83992.5%
Zoloftbrand21,31129565.5%
Paroxetinegeneric16,2041,17093%
Prozacbrand11,54727669.5%
Sertraline hydrochloridegeneric11,0771,08085.2%
Citalopram hydrobromidegeneric10,67523496.4%
Lexaprobrand9,42431864.4%
Paroxetine hydrochloridegeneric8,93526884.2%
Sertraline hclgeneric7,592067.7%
Fluoxetine hydrochloridegeneric6,20964891.9%
Trazodone hydrochloridegeneric4,21336482.2%

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 Escitalopram oxalate reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Escitalopram oxalate?

5,063 reports list Escitalopram oxalate as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 399 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 10,180 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Escitalopram oxalate reports?

drug ineffective (10.1%), dyspnoea (9.9%), drug interaction (9.7%), headache (9.5%) and suicide attempt (9%). 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 Escitalopram oxalate was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

92.8% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 14.5% of reports include death and 43.3% 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?

other health professional (35.6%), physician (25.1%) and consumer or non-health professional (24.8%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Escitalopram oxalate rising?

399 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 24% from 523 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 Escitalopram oxalate 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 Escitalopram oxalate?

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 Escitalopram oxalate as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (10,180) 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.