Reported Reactions

Drugs › Corticosteroid

Generic name

Hydrocortisone sodium succinate: adverse event reports filed with FDA

2,343 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Class: Corticosteroid.

2,343
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 108 a year
439
reports, 12 months to June 2026
550 in the 12 months before
99.1%
marked serious by the reporter
77.7% across the class
53.9%
record death among outcomes, as reported
1,262 reports · not verified by FDA

Between November 2004 and June 2026, 2,343 adverse event reports received by FDA list hydrocortisone sodium succinate, a generic name as a suspect or interacting product. Reports that mention it only as a concomitant medication (1,563) are left out of every figure here.

In the 12 months to June 2026, 439 reports listed it, down 20% from 550 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 108 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 0.3% of the reports for the corticosteroid class. How many people take it is not in the data, so a count is not a rate of occurrence.

Reporters most often recorded off label use (26.6%), hypersensitivity (25.2%) and infusion related reaction (24.1%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 674 different terms appear across these reports. Off label use is recorded in 26.6% of these reports, a larger share than in the median corticosteroid drug (8.8%).

99.1% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (77.7% across the class); 53.9% record death among the outcomes and 53.9% record hospitalisation, as reported. 71.7% of the reports came from other health professionals, and the largest patient age group is 18 to 44 (39%). 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

03468Jul 2021: 14Aug 2021: 11Sep 2021: 8Oct 2021: 13Nov 2021: 12Dec 2021: 152022Jan 2022: 8Feb 2022: 9Mar 2022: 12Apr 2022: 16May 2022: 10Jun 2022: 8Jul 2022: 8Aug 2022: 12Sep 2022: 7Oct 2022: 11Nov 2022: 9Dec 2022: 222023Jan 2023: 16Feb 2023: 19Mar 2023: 17Apr 2023: 14May 2023: 22Jun 2023: 9Jul 2023: 18Aug 2023: 33Sep 2023: 24Oct 2023: 31Nov 2023: 19Dec 2023: 202024Jan 2024: 31Feb 2024: 33Mar 2024: 42Apr 2024: 33May 2024: 47Jun 2024: 38Jul 2024: 51Aug 2024: 21Sep 2024: 43Oct 2024: 53Nov 2024: 65Dec 2024: 612025Jan 2025: 41Feb 2025: 52Mar 2025: 45Apr 2025: 39May 2025: 11Jun 2025: 68Jul 2025: 53Aug 2025: 29Sep 2025: 28Oct 2025: 40Nov 2025: 36Dec 2025: 662026Jan 2026: 33Feb 2026: 29Mar 2026: 33Apr 2026: 30May 2026: 20Jun 2026: 42

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

02595182004: 120042005: 232006: 72007: 1520072008: 122009: 62010: 1420102011: 412012: 152013: 3320132014: 272015: 442016: 4020162017: 512018: 582019: 8220192020: 1322021: 1552022: 13220222023: 2422024: 5182025: 50820252026: 187

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Hydrocortisone sodium succinate reports recording the termmedian drug in corticosteroid

  1. Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label26.6%624
  2. Hypersensitivityan allergic-type reaction25.2%590
  3. Infusion related reactiona reaction during or soon after an infusion24.1%564
  4. Rashskin rash23.7%555
  5. Wound23%539
  6. Fatiguetiredness22.9%536
  7. Systemic lupus erythematosuslupus, an autoimmune disease22.6%529
  8. Glossodynia22.5%528
  9. Impaired healingslow healing22.3%522
  10. Hypertensionhigh blood pressure22.2%519
  11. Infectionan infection, type not specified21.9%512
  12. Type 2 diabetes mellitustype 2 diabetes21.8%511
  13. Rheumatoid arthritisrheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory joint disease21.5%504
  14. Synovitis21%492
  15. Painpain, site not specified20.9%490
  16. Injurya physical injury20.7%484
  17. Joint swellinga swollen joint20.5%481
  18. Hepatic enzyme increasedraised liver enzymes20.4%478
  19. Hypoaesthesianumbness20.2%473
  20. Wheezingwheezing20.2%473
  21. Weight increasedweight gain20.1%470
  22. Rheumatic fever19.7%462
  23. Urticariahives19.6%460
  24. Pyrexiafever19.5%458
  25. Fibromyalgia19.5%457
  26. Swellingswelling19.5%457

Top 30 of 674 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 74 drugs in the corticosteroid 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

Death53.9%1,262
Life-threatening42.8%1,002
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)53.9%1,262
Disability36.6%858
Congenital anomaly10.6%249
Other serious84.1%1,971
Not serious0.9%21

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 808,789 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 23.1%72
2 to 115.3%125
12 to 172.5%58
18 to 4439%914
45 to 6412.5%294
65 to 744%93
75 and over2.4%56
Age not given31.2%731

Patient sex

Female61.5%1,440
Male20.4%479
Not given18.1%424

Who reported

Physician18.7%439
Pharmacist1.7%41
Other health professional71.7%1,679
Lawyer0%0
Consumer or non-health professional7.2%169
Not given0.6%15

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 6.2% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Rheumatoid arthritis66428.3%
Acute lymphocytic leukaemia1054.5%
Colitis ulcerative462%
Premedication411.7%
Asthma271.2%
Adrenal insufficiency231%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 2,343 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Hydrocortisone sodium succinate reports
Prednisone1,24253%
Methotrexate1,19250.9%
Acetaminophen1,15149.1%
Humira1,09346.6%
Desoximetasone1,08046.1%
Sulfasalazine1,06045.2%
Infliximab1,05645.1%
Diclofenac sodium1,05344.9%
Folic acid1,05144.9%
Enbrel1,03444.1%

Other products listed in reports where Hydrocortisone sodium succinate 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

MeasureHydrocortisone sodium succinateCorticosteroidAll reports
Reports as suspect product2,343808,78920,646,523
Share of that pool—0.3%0%
Reports, latest 12 months439—1,332,454
Marked serious99.1%77.7%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports53914691
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports539336213
Consumer-filed share7.2%29.1%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsOff label use 26.6%median 8.8%4.1%

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 corticosteroid class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
Prednisonegeneric183,86715,61491.4%
Dexamethasonegeneric129,6779,21695.1%
Prednisolonegeneric87,8066,62497.6%
Methylprednisolonegeneric49,5374,43095.2%
Symbicortbrand39,1191,17750.6%
Breo Elliptabrand22,22062831.7%
Hydrocortisonegeneric21,2632,38689.5%
Advair Diskusbrand20,51812029%
Advair Hfabrand19,62258954.9%
Budesonidegeneric14,7141,08382.2%
Desoximetasonegeneric12,2091,52599.2%
Floventbrand10,77217142.1%
Methylprednisolone sodium succinategeneric10,7721,63097.8%
Solu-medrolgeneric10,28843288.8%
Ciprobrand9,79110857.3%

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 Hydrocortisone sodium succinate reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Hydrocortisone sodium succinate?

2,343 reports list Hydrocortisone sodium succinate as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 439 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 1,563 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Hydrocortisone sodium succinate reports?

off label use (26.6%), hypersensitivity (25.2%), infusion related reaction (24.1%), rash (23.7%) and wound (23%). 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 Hydrocortisone sodium succinate was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

99.1% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 53.9% of reports include death and 53.9% 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 (71.7%), physician (18.7%) and consumer or non-health professional (7.2%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Hydrocortisone sodium succinate rising?

439 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 20% from 550 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 Hydrocortisone sodium succinate 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 Hydrocortisone sodium succinate?

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 Hydrocortisone sodium succinate as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (1,563) 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.