Reported Reactions

Drugs › Opioid agonist

Brand name · Methadone hydrochloride

Methadose: adverse event reports filed with FDA

3,672 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Class: Opioid agonist.

3,672
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 164 a year
29
reports, 12 months to June 2026
29 in the 12 months before
93.2%
marked serious by the reporter
91.7% across the class
29.8%
record death among outcomes, as reported
1,094 reports · not verified by FDA

Between February 2004 and May 2026, 3,672 adverse event reports received by FDA list the brand name Methadose (methadone hydrochloride) as a suspect or interacting product. Reports that mention it only as a concomitant medication (113) are left out of every figure here.

In the 12 months to June 2026, 29 reports listed it, close to the 29 of 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 164 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database, and 0.4% of the reports for the opioid agonist 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 drug withdrawal syndrome neonatal (32.4%), foetal exposure during pregnancy (30.6%) and drug dependence (16.5%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 335 different terms appear across these reports. Drug withdrawal syndrome neonatal is recorded in 32.4% of these reports, a larger share than in the median opioid agonist drug (2.2%).

93.2% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter (91.7% across the class); 29.8% record death among the outcomes and 10.8% record hospitalisation, as reported. 29.1% of the reports came from other health professionals, and the largest patient age group is 18 to 44 (23.6%). 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

066132Jul 2021: 3Aug 2021: 132Sep 2021: 6Oct 2021: 6Nov 2021: 5Dec 2021: 632022Jan 2022: 40Feb 2022: 3Mar 2022: 14Apr 2022: 10May 2022: 33Jun 2022: 55Jul 2022: 0Aug 2022: 3Sep 2022: 9Oct 2022: 32Nov 2022: 3Dec 2022: 42023Jan 2023: 3Feb 2023: 1Mar 2023: 2Apr 2023: 1May 2023: 8Jun 2023: 1Jul 2023: 3Aug 2023: 4Sep 2023: 8Oct 2023: 16Nov 2023: 3Dec 2023: 42024Jan 2024: 3Feb 2024: 3Mar 2024: 2Apr 2024: 9May 2024: 6Jun 2024: 5Jul 2024: 2Aug 2024: 1Sep 2024: 1Oct 2024: 2Nov 2024: 9Dec 2024: 22025Jan 2025: 4Feb 2025: 1Mar 2025: 1Apr 2025: 0May 2025: 4Jun 2025: 2Jul 2025: 2Aug 2025: 4Sep 2025: 7Oct 2025: 0Nov 2025: 2Dec 2025: 32026Jan 2026: 3Feb 2026: 0Mar 2026: 3Apr 2026: 2May 2026: 3Jun 2026: 0

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

04158302004: 12820042005: 1132006: 382007: 7220072008: 1252009: 1592010: 13820102011: 3052012: 8302013: 33120132014: 692015: 1012016: 2420162017: 252018: 1832019: 6520192020: 952021: 5252022: 20620222023: 542024: 452025: 3020252026: 11

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Methadose reports recording the termmedian drug in opioid agonist

  1. Foetal exposure during pregnancythe unborn baby was exposed to the medicine30.6%1,122
  2. Drug dependencedependence on a medicine16.5%605
  3. Maternal exposure during pregnancythe mother took the medicine during pregnancy11.5%422
  4. Developmental delayslower development in a child10.3%380
  5. Completed suicidedeath by suicide8.1%297
  6. Painpain, site not specified6.9%254
  7. Emotional distressemotional distress6.4%236
  8. Anxietyanxiety6.2%227
  9. Overdosea dose above the recommended amount5.8%212
  10. Cardio-respiratory arrestthe heart and breathing stopped5.4%197
  11. Premature babya baby born early4.7%172
  12. Deaththe patient died; cause not stated by this term4.3%158
  13. Drug exposure during pregnancythe medicine was taken during pregnancy4.2%156
  14. Drug abusemisuse of a medicine4.2%155
  15. Drug withdrawal syndromesymptoms on stopping a medicine4%147
  16. Suicide attempta suicide attempt3.6%132
  17. Toxicity to various agentspoisoning or toxic effect of one or more substances2.7%98
  18. Vision abnormal neonatal2%74
  19. Cardiac arrestthe heart stopped1.8%66
  20. Respiratory arrestbreathing stopped1.7%62
  21. Visual impairmentreduced vision1.7%62
  22. Multiple drug overdose1.7%61
  23. Accidental overdosean accidental overdose1.6%60

Top 30 of 335 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 42 drugs in the opioid agonist 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

Death29.8%1,094
Life-threatening1.8%66
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)10.8%398
Disability3.9%142
Congenital anomaly1.3%49
Other serious61.7%2,265
Not serious6.8%249

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 965,051 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 214.8%542
2 to 111.1%42
12 to 171%36
18 to 4423.6%868
45 to 649.7%355
65 to 741.1%42
75 and over0.4%15
Age not given48.3%1,772

Patient sex

Female32.9%1,208
Male24.5%898
Not given42.6%1,566

Who reported

Physician27%993
Pharmacist6.8%249
Other health professional29.1%1,069
Lawyer11.6%426
Consumer or non-health professional23.2%851
Not given2.3%84

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 61.9% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Substance abuse2536.9%
Pain2426.6%
Drug withdrawal maintenance therapy2226%
Drug dependence1784.8%
Drug use disorder290.8%
Back pain210.6%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 3,672 reports.

Drugs most often listed in the same reports

Drug (any role in the report)ReportsShare of Methadose reports
Oxycodone hydrochloride70719.3%
OxyContin56915.5%
Dilaudid46212.6%
Hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophen44812.2%
Roxicodone42911.7%
Morphine sulfate40411%
Methadone3499.5%
Percodan2928%
Oxycodone and acetaminophen2897.9%
Fentanyl2767.5%

Other products listed in reports where Methadose 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

MeasureMethadoseOpioid agonistAll reports
Reports as suspect product3,672965,05120,646,523
Share of that pool—0.4%0%
Reports, latest 12 months29—1,332,454
Marked serious93.2%91.7%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports29835791
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports108126213
Consumer-filed share23.2%32.5%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsDrug withdrawal syndrome neonatal 32.4%median 2.2%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 opioid agonist class

DrugName typeReportsLatest 12 monthsMarked serious
OxyContinbrand146,26358494.6%
Oxycodone hydrochloridegeneric113,2202,59894.7%
Dilaudidbrand64,19117395.7%
Morphine sulfategeneric60,0921,57779.8%
Hydrocodone bitartrate and acetaminophengeneric59,05217096.2%
Percocetbrand57,79319895.4%
Fentanylgeneric53,6563,29286.2%
MS Continbrand52,1285598.7%
Oxycodonegeneric35,6712,85391.8%
Hysingla ERbrand30,703692.1%
Morphinegeneric28,4211,42190.5%
Nucyntabrand27,57512790.4%
Tramadol hydrochloridegeneric27,4471,95292.4%
Oxycodone and acetaminophengeneric24,91911294%
Norcobrand24,6614293.1%

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 Methadose reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Methadose?

3,672 reports list Methadose as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 29 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 113 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Methadose reports?

drug withdrawal syndrome neonatal (32.4%), foetal exposure during pregnancy (30.6%), drug dependence (16.5%), maternal exposure during pregnancy (11.5%) and developmental delay (10.3%). 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 Methadose was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

93.2% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 29.8% of reports include death and 10.8% 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?

other health professional (29.1%), physician (27%) and consumer or non-health professional (23.2%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Methadose rising?

29 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, close to the 29 of 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 Methadose 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 Methadose?

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 Methadose as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (113) 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.