Gliadel (carmustine) adverse event reports that FDA received

Name: Reaction terms in FDA adverse event reports that name Gliadel
Creator: Reported Reactions
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Name type: Brand name
Generic name: Carmustine
Class: Alkylating drug

What a report is

A report is not proof that the drug was the cause of the event.

FDA says:

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.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview, section "Responsible use of the data". The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026. The data have the reports that FDA received through 30 Jun 2026.

FDA also says:

There is no certainty that the reported event (adverse event or medication error) was actually due to the product. FDA does not require that a causal relationship between a product and event be proven, and reports do not always contain enough detail to properly evaluate an event. The information in these reports has not been scientifically or otherwise verified as to a cause and effect relationship and cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

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.
Source: openFDA, Response of the drug event API (meta.disclaimer). The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

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

Reports on file

From July 2004 to April 2026, FDA received 523 adverse event reports that name Gliadel. In these reports the drug is a suspect or interacting product.

In the same period, 31 further reports name it only as a concomitant medicine. The counts on this page do not include these reports.

FDA received 2 reports in the 12 months to June 2026 and 1 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data every quarter, so the newest months are not complete. They grow in later releases.

The number of people who use the product is not in the data. A count is not a rate. A count of reports is not a count of events or of patients, because one event can have more than one report.

There are many instances of duplicative reports and some reports do not contain all the necessary information.
Source: FDA, FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS) Public Dashboard. Content current as of 11 Mar 2026. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

Suspect product

FDA records each drug in a report as suspect, concomitant or interacting. This page counts the reports in which Gliadel is suspect or interacting. FDA says:

Any number of the drugs may be marked as suspect if thought to be responsible for one or more of the reactions, but that information is not validated.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

Data version

openFDA FAERS release of 1 Oct 2026. Reports received through 30 Jun 2026.

Since the last update

FDA says:

Many factors can influence whether or not an event will be reported, such as the time a product has been marketed and publicity about an event.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

The information in these reports cannot be used to estimate the incidence (occurrence rates) of the events reported.
Source: FDA, FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS) Public Dashboard. Content current as of 11 Mar 2026. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

No update is on record for this page. The record starts when FDA adds the reports of July to September 2026.

In April to June 2026, FDA received 1 report that names Gliadel.
In January to March 2026, FDA received 1.
In April to June 2025, FDA received 0.

April to June 2026 is the latest closed quarter in the data. A closed quarter is a quarter for which the FDA files have most of the reports.

All updates Feed of updates (RSS)

Reaction lookup

These are the reaction terms that the reports record, with the number of reports for each term. Type a term or a plain word to find its count.

What this list leaves out

The table lists the 58 reaction terms that 5 or more reports record. A term with fewer than 5 reports is not in the table.

The site keeps reaction terms for 479 of the 523 reports (91.6%).

The reports of the other years are not in the counts.

So a count in the table can be lower than the count of FDA.

Find a reaction term

The table shows the first 50 of 58 terms.

Reaction terms in the reports that name Gliadel, most reports first
Reaction term (MedDRA) and plain meaning	Reports	Share of the 523 reports
Brain oedema	118	22.6%
Convulsion	41	7.8%
Hemiplegia	35	6.7%
Post procedural complicationa complication after a procedure	34	6.5%
Pneumocephalus	33	6.3%
Deep vein thrombosisa blood clot in a deep vein	29	5.5%
Headachehead pain	28	5.4%
Pyrexiafever	27	5.2%
Condition aggravatedthe condition being treated got worse	23	4.4%
Cerebral infarction	21	4%
Intracranial hypotension	21	4%
Pulmonary embolisma blood clot in the lung	21	4%
Aphasiadifficulty with language	20	3.8%
Disease progressionthe disease advanced	19	3.6%
Brain abscess	18	3.4%
Cerebrospinal fluid leakage	15	2.9%
Hydrocephalus	15	2.9%
Staphylococcal infection	14	2.7%
Thrombocytopenialow platelets	14	2.7%
Hemiparesis	13	2.5%
Mental status changes	13	2.5%
Infectionan infection, type not specified	12	2.3%
Intracranial pressure increased	12	2.3%
Paralysis	12	2.3%
Altered state of consciousness	11	2.1%
Somnolencedrowsiness	11	2.1%
Cerebral haemorrhage	10	1.9%
Fatiguetiredness	10	1.9%
Impaired healingslow healing	10	1.9%
Incision site infection	10	1.9%
Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label	9	1.7%
Falla fall	8	1.5%
Meningitis	8	1.5%
Postoperative wound infection	8	1.5%
Cognitive disorderproblems with thinking or memory	7	1.3%
Drug administration errora mistake in giving the medicine	7	1.3%
Gait disturbancedifficulty walking	7	1.3%
Incision site complication	7	1.3%
Lethargysluggishness	7	1.3%
Astheniaweakness or lack of energy	6	1.1%
Coma	6	1.1%
Confusional stateconfusion	6	1.1%
Hyponatraemialow blood sodium	6	1.1%
Malignant neoplasm progression	6	1.1%
Procedural site reaction	6	1.1%
Vomitingbeing sick	6	1.1%
Wound infectionan infected wound	6	1.1%
Wound infection staphylococcal	6	1.1%
Brain herniation	5	1%
Depressionlow mood	5	1%

Download all 58 terms of Gliadel (CSV)

The counts add to more than 523 reports, because one report can record more than one term. FDA says:

No individual drug is connected to any individual reaction. When a report lists multiple drugs and multiple reactions, there is no way to conclude from the data therein that a given drug is responsible for a given reaction.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

The CSV file has the same rows and the same limits. Its last row is a note that says so.

MedDRA term

The person who codes a report selects the preferred term that agrees best with the description of the reporter. The words under a term are the plain meaning that this site gives.

Not the label

The FDA-approved label of a product lists its adverse reactions. See the official pages at the end of this page.

Same ingredient, other names

Reporters write a brand name or a generic name. Each name has its own page and its own count.

Names of Carmustine with a page, in the order generic names, brand names, names as reported
Name	Name type	Reports
Carmustine	Generic name	3,378
Gliadel (this page)	Brand name	523

Sum of the separately reported names: 3,901. A report that names two of these names is in the sum two times. The sum is not the number of reports for the ingredient.

FDA says:

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.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

Importantly, the AEMS data by themselves are not an indicator of the safety profile of the drug or biologic.
Source: FDA, FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS) Public Dashboard. Content current as of 11 Mar 2026. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

Outcomes by year

The table gives the outcomes that the reporters gave, in the terms of FDA.

Outcomes in the reports that name Gliadel, by the year of the openFDA file that holds the report

The table continues to the right.

Year of the openFDA file	Reports	Serious	Death	Life-threatening	Hospitalization (initial or prolonged)	Disability or Permanent Damage	Other Serious (Important Medical Events)	Not serious
2004	13	9	3	0	6	0	0	4
2005	55	49	5	7	36	0	7	6
2006	77	76	17	3	58	1	16	1
2007	36	35	9	3	22	2	16	1
2008	26	24	10	3	13	0	10	2
2009	11	11	3	0	7	1	0	0
2010	21	20	8	2	10	1	7	1
2011	14	14	3	3	9	2	3	0
2012	16	16	5	1	13	0	3	0
2013	29	29	3	5	13	2	15	0
2014	54	54	8	5	27	3	31	0
2015	60	60	6	8	21	4	40	0
2016	17	17	0	4	11	1	6	0
2017	29	27	5	1	10	3	12	2
2018	19	16	0	2	11	0	5	3
2019	13	13	0	1	8	1	5	0
2020	8	7	1	1	5	0	4	1
2022	7	6	0	0	3	0	3	1
2023	11	10	5	0	8	0	3	1
2024	5	4	2	0	3	0	2	1
2026	2	2	0	0	1	0	1	0

An outcome in a report is not proof that the drug was the cause. The reporter gives the outcome, and FDA does not verify it. FDA says:

The information in these reports has not been scientifically or otherwise verified as to a cause and effect relationship and cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

The six headings with the names of FDA are the outcome terms of FDA. A report can have more than one outcome. The columns Serious and Not serious are the two values of the openFDA field serious. For the value serious, openFDA gives this description:

The adverse event resulted in death, a life threatening condition, hospitalization, disability, congenital anomaly, or other serious condition
Source: openFDA, Drug adverse event fields (YAML reference). The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

The year is the year of the openFDA file that holds the latest version of the report. It is not always the year in which FDA first received the report. The chart of the next section uses the year of first receipt. The latest year is not complete.

Reports by year and month

Reports that name Gliadel, by the year in which FDA received them

The column of 2026 has an outline, because the year is not complete. It has the reports that FDA received through June 2026 only.

Show the figures of the chart as a table

Reports that name Gliadel, by the year in which FDA received them
Year	Reports
2004	6
2005	54
2006	65
2007	45
2008	37
2009	11
2010	21
2011	14
2012	16
2013	52
2014	37
2015	60
2016	19
2017	22
2018	19
2019	14
2020	6
2022	10
2023	10
2024	3
2026	2

Reports that name Gliadel, by month, five years to June 2026

FDA releases FAERS data every quarter, so the newest months are not complete. They grow in later releases.

Why a count moves

A count moves for many reasons. The guide gives FDA's words about them.

Patients and reporters

Age of the patient in the reports that name Gliadel
Age	Reports	Share
Under 2	1	0.2%
2 to 11	1	0.2%
12 to 17	8	1.5%
18 to 44	75	14.3%
45 to 64	154	29.4%
65 to 74	68	13%
75 and over	25	4.8%
Age not given	191	36.5%

Sex of the patient in the reports that name Gliadel
Sex	Reports	Share
Female	176	33.7%
Male	246	47%
Unknown or not given	101	19.3%

Type of reporter in the reports that name Gliadel
Reporter	Reports	Share
Physician	237	45.3%
Pharmacist	11	2.1%
Other health professional	171	32.7%
Lawyer	0	0%
Consumer or non-health professional	40	7.6%
Not given	64	12.2%

Age and sex are as the report gives them. The reporter is the primary source in the report. 40.2% of the reports give the United States as the country.

Reason for use

Reason for use (indication) that the reports of Gliadel record
Indication as recorded (MedDRA)	Reports	Share
Glioblastoma multiforme	161	30.8%
Malignant glioma	130	24.9%
Glioblastoma	66	12.6%
Glioma	19	3.6%
Astrocytoma malignant	7	1.3%
Anaplastic astrocytoma	4	0.8%

The reporter fills in the indication, and the field is often empty. Each share is of all 523 reports.

Pages near this one

Carmustine same ingredient
Gleostine same class
Ifex same class
Dacarbazine same class
Ifosfamide same class
Cyclophosphamide same class
Ifosfamide for injection same class
Glibenclamide next in the A to Z list
Gleevec Unknown next in the A to Z list
Gliclazide next in the A to Z list
Gleevec next in the A to Z list
Glifage next in the A to Z list

These links are for navigation. No count selected them. The class page lists each drug of the class.

Official pages

DailyMed labels for GliadelThe labels (prescribing information) that have this name, at the National Library of Medicine.
MedWatch Online Voluntary Reporting FormThe online form of FDA for a voluntary report.
MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting ProgramThe page of the FDA program that receives reports about drugs and devices.
FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS) Public DashboardThe public dashboard of FDA for adverse event reports on drugs and biologics.

The site checked these addresses on 2 Oct 2026. The links open in a new tab.

Cite this page

Reported Reactions. Gliadel: adverse event reports that FDA received. https://reportedreactions.com/drug/gliadel/ Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA Drug Adverse Event (FAERS) files, release of 1 Oct 2026. Reports received through 30 Jun 2026.

Where the data come from

The counts come from the openFDA Drug Adverse Event (FAERS) bulk files, release of 1 Oct 2026. The files have the reports that FDA received through 30 Jun 2026. A drug name is the name on the report. The site matches it to a brand name or a generic name of the National Drug Code Directory of 2 Oct 2026. A class is the pharmacologic class (EPC) of the FDA label.

A report is in the count when it names Gliadel as a suspect or interacting product. The 31 reports that name it only as a concomitant medicine are not in the count. The site does not publish a report narrative, a lot number, a detail of a patient or the identity of a reporter. The record of FDA is the authority. See how the site counts reports, the data sources and the corrections page.

Questions

Do these reports show that Gliadel was responsible for the reactions?

No. FDA says:

For any given report, there is no certainty that a suspected drug caused the event.
Source: FDA, FDA Adverse Event Monitoring System (AEMS) Public Dashboard. Content current as of 11 Mar 2026. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

A reaction can relate to the condition that the drug treats, to other medicines, or to something else.

Is this the list of reactions on the label of Gliadel?

No. It is a count of what people reported to FDA: 523 reports from July 2004 to April 2026. The FDA-approved label of a product lists its adverse reactions. The official pages at the end of this page link to the labels.

Who sent these reports?

Physician (45.3%), other health professional (32.7%) and consumer or non-health professional (7.6%). These are the types of reporter for the reports that name this drug.

If a manufacturer receives an adverse event report, it is normally required to send the report to FDA.
Source: openFDA, Drug Adverse Event Overview. The site read the page on 2 Oct 2026.

How does a person report an adverse event?

FDA runs MedWatch, a program that takes voluntary reports from health professionals, patients and consumers. The guide on how to report has the links.

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