Reported Reactions

Drugs › Estrogen

Brand name · Estradiol

Estrace: adverse event reports filed with FDA

4,649 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Class: Estrogen. Also reported as Estrace Cream.

4,649
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 207 a year
25
reports, 12 months to June 2026
34 in the 12 months before
58.9%
marked serious by the reporter
57.2% across the class
1.6%
record death among outcomes, as reported
75 reports · not verified by FDA

4,649 adverse event reports received by FDA list the brand name Estrace (estradiol) as a suspect or interacting product, from February 2004 to June 2026. A further 6,785 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, 25 reports listed it, down 26% from 34 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 207 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 3.6% of the reports for the estrogen 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 breast cancer (25.1%), breast cancer female (17.9%) and drug ineffective (5.2%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 462 different terms appear across these reports. Breast cancer is recorded in 25.1% of these reports, a larger share than in the median estrogen drug (1.8%).

58.9% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (57.2% across the class); 1.6% record death among the outcomes and 5.6% record hospitalisation, as reported. 54.3% of the reports came from consumers, and the largest patient age group is 45 to 64 (25.5%). 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

01632Jul 2021: 1Aug 2021: 4Sep 2021: 0Oct 2021: 0Nov 2021: 1Dec 2021: 12022Jan 2022: 0Feb 2022: 3Mar 2022: 32Apr 2022: 0May 2022: 2Jun 2022: 1Jul 2022: 1Aug 2022: 5Sep 2022: 2Oct 2022: 3Nov 2022: 5Dec 2022: 12023Jan 2023: 1Feb 2023: 16Mar 2023: 4Apr 2023: 0May 2023: 1Jun 2023: 9Jul 2023: 1Aug 2023: 6Sep 2023: 4Oct 2023: 2Nov 2023: 1Dec 2023: 42024Jan 2024: 1Feb 2024: 6Mar 2024: 1Apr 2024: 1May 2024: 3Jun 2024: 1Jul 2024: 5Aug 2024: 1Sep 2024: 0Oct 2024: 1Nov 2024: 3Dec 2024: 52025Jan 2025: 3Feb 2025: 2Mar 2025: 4Apr 2025: 5May 2025: 3Jun 2025: 2Jul 2025: 3Aug 2025: 0Sep 2025: 1Oct 2025: 3Nov 2025: 2Dec 2025: 32026Jan 2026: 2Feb 2026: 1Mar 2026: 2Apr 2026: 2May 2026: 3Jun 2026: 3

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

03026032004: 23520042005: 3552006: 2992007: 18920072008: 2332009: 5092010: 60320102011: 1332012: 682013: 3120132014: 262015: 392016: 38420162017: 5002018: 2982019: 30120192020: 1712021: 992022: 5520222023: 492024: 282025: 3120252026: 13

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Estrace reports recording the termmedian drug in estrogen

  1. Breast cancerbreast cancer25.1%1,169
  2. Drug ineffectivethe medicine did not work as expected5.2%243
  3. Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label5.1%239
  4. Wrong technique in product usage processthe product was used in the wrong way3.4%156
  5. Product use issuea problem in how the product was used3.1%145
  6. Vulvovaginal discomfort2.5%117
  7. Oestrogen receptor assay positive2.4%111
  8. Painpain, site not specified2.1%99
  9. Nauseafeeling sick2.1%96
  10. Headachehead pain2%95
  11. Progesterone receptor assay positive2%92
  12. Vaginal haemorrhagevaginal bleeding1.9%89
  13. Breast cancer in situ1.9%87
  14. Urinary tract infectionbladder or urinary infection1.7%79
  15. Vulvovaginal pruritus1.7%78
  16. Alopeciahair loss1.7%77
  17. Pruritusitching1.6%76
  18. Incorrect dose administeredthe wrong dose was given1.5%71
  19. Drug prescribing errora prescribing mistake1.3%62
  20. Weight increasedweight gain1.3%62
  21. Application site discharge1.3%60
  22. Abdominal distensiona bloated abdomen1.2%56
  23. Dizzinesslight-headedness or unsteadiness1.2%55
  24. Anxietyanxiety1.1%51
  25. Vulvovaginal pain1.1%50

Top 30 of 462 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 25 drugs in the estrogen 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

Death1.6%75
Life-threatening0.6%29
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)5.6%259
Disability1.5%72
Congenital anomaly0%1
Other serious56.1%2,609
Not serious41.1%1,909

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 127,523 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 20.1%3
2 to 110.2%7
12 to 170%0
18 to 441.3%62
45 to 6425.5%1,187
65 to 749.3%434
75 and over5.5%254
Age not given58.1%2,702

Patient sex

Female97.4%4,527
Male0.3%14
Not given2.3%108

Who reported

Physician2.8%128
Pharmacist1.3%60
Other health professional3.7%171
Lawyer21.4%993
Consumer or non-health professional54.3%2,523
Not given16.6%774

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 90.9% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Hormone replacement therapy1,51432.6%
Vulvovaginal dryness3016.5%
Menopausal symptoms1954.2%
Atrophic vulvovaginitis1844%
Menopause721.5%
Urinary tract infection300.6%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 4,649 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Estrace reports
Premarin1,72737.1%
Prempro1,34729%
Estradiol66514.3%
Medroxyprogesterone acetate61513.2%
Medroxyprogesterone3257%
Climara2034.4%
Synthroid1302.8%
Vagifem1122.4%
Aspirin671.4%
Progesterone591.3%

Other products listed in reports where Estrace 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

MeasureEstraceEstrogenAll reports
Reports as suspect product4,649127,52320,646,523
Share of that pool—3.6%0%
Reports, latest 12 months25—1,332,454
Marked serious58.9%57.2%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports161791
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports56105213
Consumer-filed share54.3%49%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsBreast cancer 25.1%median 1.8%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 estrogen class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
Premarinbrand34,40115877.8%
Premprobrand19,8323690.4%
Nuvaringbrand18,6435549.2%
Estradiolgeneric15,4792,77743%
Estradiol Transdermal Systembrand5,9891,3083.2%
Estringbrand3,81311530.5%
CombiPatch (estradiol/norethindrone acetate transdermal system)brand3,60838419.5%
Climarabrand3,1463725.9%
Minivellebrand2,823334%
Climara Probrand1,94911511%
Xulanebrand1,5376510.3%
Vivelle-Dotbrand1,4886232.1%
EstroGelbrand1,3129474.9%
Conjugated estrogensgeneric1,1671298.7%
Twirlabrand1,014962.1%

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 Estrace reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Estrace?

4,649 reports list Estrace as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 25 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 6,785 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Estrace reports?

breast cancer (25.1%), breast cancer female (17.9%), drug ineffective (5.2%), off label use (5.1%) and vulvovaginal burning sensation (3.9%). 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 Estrace was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

58.9% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 1.6% of reports include death and 5.6% 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?

consumer or non-health professional (54.3%), lawyer (21.4%) and not given (16.6%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Estrace rising?

25 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 26% from 34 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 Estrace 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 Estrace?

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 Estrace as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (6,785) 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.