Reported Reactions

Drugs › Bisphosphonate

Generic name

Ibandronate sodium: adverse event reports filed with FDA

1,338 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2005–2026. Class: Bisphosphonate. Also reported as Ibandronate Sodium Tablets, Ibandronate Sodium Tablet, Ibandronate Sodium Tablets 150mg.

1,338
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 64 a year
60
reports, 12 months to June 2026
114 in the 12 months before
71.5%
marked serious by the reporter
90.3% across the class
13.9%
record death among outcomes, as reported
186 reports · not verified by FDA

1,338 adverse event reports received by FDA list ibandronate sodium, a generic name as a suspect or interacting product, from September 2005 to June 2026. A further 1,804 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, 60 reports listed it, down 47% from 114 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 64 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 1.4% of the reports for the bisphosphonate class. How many people take it is not in the data, so a count is not a rate of occurrence.

The MedDRA terms listed most often are femur fracture (15.3%), arthralgia (14.2%) and diarrhoea (10.6%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 362 different terms appear across these reports. Femur fracture is recorded in 15.3% of these reports, a larger share than in the median bisphosphonate drug (7.1%).

71.5% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (90.3% across the class); 13.9% record death among the outcomes and 17.8% record hospitalisation, as reported. 46.6% of the reports came from consumers, and the largest patient age group is 65 to 74 (18.3%). 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

01427Jul 2021: 2Aug 2021: 7Sep 2021: 7Oct 2021: 15Nov 2021: 27Dec 2021: 52022Jan 2022: 9Feb 2022: 15Mar 2022: 12Apr 2022: 18May 2022: 11Jun 2022: 14Jul 2022: 5Aug 2022: 5Sep 2022: 14Oct 2022: 6Nov 2022: 3Dec 2022: 72023Jan 2023: 1Feb 2023: 4Mar 2023: 11Apr 2023: 20May 2023: 17Jun 2023: 15Jul 2023: 7Aug 2023: 8Sep 2023: 15Oct 2023: 11Nov 2023: 11Dec 2023: 42024Jan 2024: 5Feb 2024: 5Mar 2024: 7Apr 2024: 9May 2024: 13Jun 2024: 5Jul 2024: 3Aug 2024: 6Sep 2024: 1Oct 2024: 9Nov 2024: 9Dec 2024: 102025Jan 2025: 6Feb 2025: 4Mar 2025: 16Apr 2025: 13May 2025: 22Jun 2025: 15Jul 2025: 4Aug 2025: 6Sep 2025: 2Oct 2025: 0Nov 2025: 2Dec 2025: 72026Jan 2026: 5Feb 2026: 7Mar 2026: 10Apr 2026: 7May 2026: 6Jun 2026: 4

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

0781552005: 220052006: 32007: 262008: 1120082009: 252010: 252011: 15520112012: 1142013: 1042014: 2320142015: 392016: 362017: 5920172018: 672019: 432020: 6320202021: 822022: 1192023: 12420232024: 822025: 972026: 392026

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Ibandronate sodium reports recording the termmedian drug in bisphosphonate

  1. Arthralgiajoint pain14.2%190
  2. Diarrhoealoose or frequent stools10.6%142
  3. Headachehead pain9%121
  4. Osteonecrosis of jawdeath of jaw bone tissue8.7%116
  5. Myalgiamuscle pain8.6%115
  6. Fatiguetiredness7.9%106
  7. Abdominal pain upperupper stomach pain7.5%100
  8. Dizzinesslight-headedness or unsteadiness7.5%100
  9. Falla fall7.3%98
  10. Back painback pain6.8%91
  11. Astheniaweakness or lack of energy6.7%89
  12. Dyspnoeashortness of breath6.7%89
  13. Nauseafeeling sick6.7%89
  14. Chillschills or shivering6.5%87
  15. Painpain, site not specified6.4%86
  16. Pain in extremitypain in an arm or leg6.4%86
  17. Malaisegeneral feeling of being unwell6.2%83
  18. Blindnessloss of sight5.5%74
  19. Coma5.3%71
  20. Eye paineye pain5.3%71
  21. Pyrexiafever5.3%71
  22. Amaurosis fugax5.2%70
  23. Head discomfortdiscomfort in the head5.2%70
  24. Coughcough5.2%69
  25. Insomniadifficulty sleeping5.2%69

Top 30 of 362 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 9 drugs in the bisphosphonate 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

Death13.9%186
Life-threatening1.3%17
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)17.8%238
Disability7%94
Congenital anomaly0%0
Other serious53.6%717
Not serious28.5%381

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 97,060 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%0
2 to 110%0
12 to 170.4%6
18 to 441%13
45 to 6414.9%200
65 to 7418.3%245
75 and over13.9%186
Age not given51.4%688

Patient sex

Female75%1,004
Male5.5%73
Not given19.5%261

Who reported

Physician19.1%255
Pharmacist2.7%36
Other health professional23.1%309
Lawyer4.9%65
Consumer or non-health professional46.6%624
Not given3.7%49

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 61.2% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Osteoporosis37528%
Osteopenia443.3%
Breast cancer metastatic312.3%
Breast cancer282.1%
Metastases to bone181.3%
Osteoporosis postmenopausal141%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 1,338 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Ibandronate sodium reports
Zoledronic acid16812.6%
Fosamax16712.5%
Letrozole14911.1%
Alendronate sodium1339.9%
Aspirin1158.6%
Exemestane1088.1%
Acetaminophen1067.9%
Simvastatin1047.8%
Docetaxel1037.7%
Telmisartan1037.7%

Other products listed in reports where Ibandronate sodium 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

MeasureIbandronate sodiumBisphosphonateAll reports
Reports as suspect product1,33897,06020,646,523
Share of that pool—1.4%0%
Reports, latest 12 months60—1,332,454
Marked serious71.5%90.3%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports13913891
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports178369213
Consumer-filed share46.6%28%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsFemur fracture 15.3%median 7.1%0.1%

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 bisphosphonate class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
Fosamaxbrand34,8441,31192.2%
Alendronate sodiumgeneric18,0821,52890.4%
Zoledronic acidgeneric16,6821,86897.1%
Reclastbrand10,38240281%
Actonelbrand6,0393384.3%
Alendronatebrand4,04521379.6%
Risedronate sodiumgeneric3,51255292.5%
Pamidronate disodiumgeneric2,1363296.9%

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 Ibandronate sodium reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Ibandronate sodium?

1,338 reports list Ibandronate sodium as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 60 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 1,804 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Ibandronate sodium reports?

femur fracture (15.3%), arthralgia (14.2%), diarrhoea (10.6%), headache (9%) and osteonecrosis of jaw (8.7%). 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 Ibandronate sodium was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

71.5% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 13.9% of reports include death and 17.8% 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 (46.6%), other health professional (23.1%) and physician (19.1%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Ibandronate sodium rising?

60 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 47% from 114 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 Ibandronate sodium 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 Ibandronate sodium?

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 Ibandronate sodium as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (1,804) 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.