Reported Reactions

Drugs › Corticosteroid

Brand name · Methylprednisolone

Medrol: adverse event reports filed with FDA

4,582 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Class: Corticosteroid. Also reported as Medrol Tablet, Medrol /00049601/.

4,582
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 204 a year
125
reports, 12 months to June 2026
169 in the 12 months before
81.8%
marked serious by the reporter
77.7% across the class
8.2%
record death among outcomes, as reported
374 reports · not verified by FDA

4,582 adverse event reports received by FDA list the brand name Medrol (methylprednisolone) as a suspect or interacting product, from February 2004 to June 2026. A further 12,724 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, 125 reports listed it, down 26% from 169 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 204 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 0.6% 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 drug hypersensitivity (6.9%), off label use (6%) and drug ineffective (5.3%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 1,149 different terms appear across these reports. Drug hypersensitivity is recorded in 6.9% of these reports, a larger share than in the median corticosteroid drug (1.7%).

81.8% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (77.7% across the class); 8.2% record death among the outcomes and 42.1% record hospitalisation, as reported. 40.9% of the reports came from physicians, and the largest patient age group is 45 to 64 (27.9%). 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

01734Jul 2021: 28Aug 2021: 34Sep 2021: 16Oct 2021: 17Nov 2021: 14Dec 2021: 272022Jan 2022: 21Feb 2022: 15Mar 2022: 25Apr 2022: 19May 2022: 29Jun 2022: 23Jul 2022: 19Aug 2022: 18Sep 2022: 26Oct 2022: 11Nov 2022: 26Dec 2022: 182023Jan 2023: 24Feb 2023: 16Mar 2023: 12Apr 2023: 31May 2023: 14Jun 2023: 24Jul 2023: 14Aug 2023: 20Sep 2023: 20Oct 2023: 14Nov 2023: 18Dec 2023: 342024Jan 2024: 26Feb 2024: 9Mar 2024: 11Apr 2024: 18May 2024: 10Jun 2024: 12Jul 2024: 7Aug 2024: 21Sep 2024: 14Oct 2024: 17Nov 2024: 20Dec 2024: 162025Jan 2025: 15Feb 2025: 10Mar 2025: 17Apr 2025: 12May 2025: 9Jun 2025: 11Jul 2025: 4Aug 2025: 9Sep 2025: 5Oct 2025: 6Nov 2025: 6Dec 2025: 212026Jan 2026: 10Feb 2026: 10Mar 2026: 16Apr 2026: 15May 2026: 16Jun 2026: 7

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

01973942004: 6620042005: 692006: 642007: 7920072008: 1062009: 1002010: 19620102011: 1982012: 2102013: 21320132014: 2622015: 2512016: 24220162017: 3432018: 3942019: 34920192020: 2722021: 2962022: 25020222023: 2412024: 1812025: 12520252026: 74

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Medrol reports recording the termmedian drug in corticosteroid

  1. Drug hypersensitivityan allergic-type reaction to a medicine6.9%318
  2. Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label6%273
  3. Drug ineffectivethe medicine did not work as expected5.3%245
  4. Dyspnoeashortness of breath4.3%199
  5. Pyrexiafever3.9%178
  6. Arthralgiajoint pain3.7%171
  7. Condition aggravatedthe condition being treated got worse3.5%161
  8. Nauseafeeling sick3.5%161
  9. Dizzinesslight-headedness or unsteadiness3.3%150
  10. Painpain, site not specified3.3%150
  11. Drug interactionan interaction between medicines3.1%144
  12. Diarrhoealoose or frequent stools3.1%140
  13. Vomitingbeing sick2.9%135
  14. Headachehead pain2.9%133
  15. Astheniaweakness or lack of energy2.9%131
  16. Malaisegeneral feeling of being unwell2.8%130
  17. Rashskin rash2.8%127
  18. Pneumonialung infection2.7%124
  19. Fatiguetiredness2.4%109
  20. Abdominal pain upperupper stomach pain2.3%104
  21. Insomniadifficulty sleeping2.2%103
  22. Diabetes mellitusdiabetes2.2%99
  23. Hypertensionhigh blood pressure2.2%99
  24. Back painback pain2.1%95
  25. Blood glucose increasedraised blood sugar reading2%91
  26. Pruritusitching1.9%85
  27. Coughcough1.8%83
  28. Sepsisa severe body-wide response to infection1.8%82
  29. Blood pressure increaseda raised blood pressure reading1.6%74
  30. Depressionlow mood1.6%74

Top 30 of 1,149 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

Death8.2%374
Life-threatening6.2%286
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)42.1%1,929
Disability4.3%196
Congenital anomaly0.5%23
Other serious51.9%2,379
Not serious18.2%836

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 20.2%11
2 to 111.4%62
12 to 171.4%64
18 to 4416.5%758
45 to 6427.9%1,278
65 to 7417.3%793
75 and over11%503
Age not given24.3%1,113

Patient sex

Female57.4%2,628
Male35.8%1,639
Not given6.9%315

Who reported

Physician40.9%1,874
Pharmacist6.4%292
Other health professional22.4%1,027
Lawyer0.5%25
Consumer or non-health professional27.6%1,264
Not given2.2%100

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 29.5% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Rheumatoid arthritis3627.9%
Renal transplant1202.6%
Asthma681.5%
Systemic lupus erythematosus551.2%
Nephrotic syndrome420.9%
Immunosuppression400.9%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 4,582 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Medrol reports
Methotrexate2545.5%
CellCept2385.2%
Solu-medrol1914.2%
Tacrolimus1773.9%
Prednisone1683.7%
Omeprazole1483.2%
Enbrel1232.7%
Aspirin1182.6%
Lasix1162.5%
Neoral1132.5%

Other products listed in reports where Medrol 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

MeasureMedrolCorticosteroidAll reports
Reports as suspect product4,582808,78920,646,523
Share of that pool—0.6%0%
Reports, latest 12 months125—1,332,454
Marked serious81.8%77.7%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports8214691
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports421336213
Consumer-filed share27.6%29.1%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsDrug hypersensitivity 6.9%median 1.7%0.9%

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 Medrol reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Medrol?

4,582 reports list Medrol as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 125 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 12,724 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Medrol reports?

drug hypersensitivity (6.9%), off label use (6%), drug ineffective (5.3%), dyspnoea (4.3%) and pyrexia (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 Medrol was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

81.8% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 8.2% of reports include death and 42.1% 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?

physician (40.9%), consumer or non-health professional (27.6%) and other health professional (22.4%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Medrol rising?

125 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 26% from 169 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 Medrol 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 Medrol?

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 Medrol as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (12,724) 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.