Reported Reactions

Drugs

Product name as reported

Vitamin A: adverse event reports filed with FDA

662 reports list it as a suspect or interacting product, 2004–2026. Also reported as Vitamin A /00056001/, Vitamin A Nos.

662
reports as suspect product
0% of all reports · about 30 a year
82
reports, 12 months to June 2026
120 in the 12 months before
95.2%
marked serious by the reporter
57.4% across all reports
35.6%
record death among outcomes, as reported
236 reports · not verified by FDA

Between February 2004 and June 2026, 662 adverse event reports received by FDA list the product name "Vitamin A" as reporters wrote it as a suspect or interacting product. Reports that mention it only as a concomitant medication (6,371) are left out of every figure here.

In the 12 months to June 2026, 82 reports listed it, down 32% from 120 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 30 reports a year and 0% of the 20,646,523 reports in the database. 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 off label use (34.9%), gastrooesophageal reflux disease (31.4%) and drug ineffective (29.6%). A report can list several reactions, so shares add to more than 100%; 345 different terms appear across these reports. Off label use is recorded in 34.9% of these reports, against 4.1% of all reports in the database.

95.2% of the reports are marked serious by the reporter; 35.6% record death among the outcomes and 74.6% record hospitalisation, as reported. 71.6% of the reports came from other health professionals, and the largest patient age group is 18 to 44 (39.9%). 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

01938Jul 2021: 5Aug 2021: 5Sep 2021: 6Oct 2021: 4Nov 2021: 0Dec 2021: 52022Jan 2022: 2Feb 2022: 1Mar 2022: 2Apr 2022: 4May 2022: 5Jun 2022: 3Jul 2022: 5Aug 2022: 6Sep 2022: 1Oct 2022: 4Nov 2022: 4Dec 2022: 12023Jan 2023: 7Feb 2023: 6Mar 2023: 6Apr 2023: 1May 2023: 4Jun 2023: 9Jul 2023: 5Aug 2023: 9Sep 2023: 7Oct 2023: 14Nov 2023: 2Dec 2023: 52024Jan 2024: 13Feb 2024: 10Mar 2024: 7Apr 2024: 10May 2024: 5Jun 2024: 8Jul 2024: 3Aug 2024: 11Sep 2024: 7Oct 2024: 3Nov 2024: 9Dec 2024: 132025Jan 2025: 14Feb 2025: 3Mar 2025: 38Apr 2025: 7May 2025: 1Jun 2025: 11Jul 2025: 11Aug 2025: 5Sep 2025: 9Oct 2025: 6Nov 2025: 7Dec 2025: 102026Jan 2026: 8Feb 2026: 7Mar 2026: 4Apr 2026: 8May 2026: 3Jun 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

0611222004: 520042005: 72006: 32007: 220072008: 72009: 52010: 720102011: 22012: 32013: 1720132014: 62015: 142016: 820162017: 192018: 382019: 6020192020: 432021: 482022: 3820222023: 752024: 992025: 12220252026: 34

2026 covers reports received through June 2026 only.

Reactions recorded in the reports

share of Vitamin A reports recording the termall reports in the database

  1. Off label useused for a purpose or in a way not on the label34.9%231
  2. Drug ineffectivethe medicine did not work as expected29.6%196
  3. Product use in unapproved indicationused for a purpose not on the label24.9%165
  4. Painpain, site not specified23%152
  5. Swellingswelling22.4%148
  6. Type 2 diabetes mellitustype 2 diabetes21.9%145
  7. Infusion related reactiona reaction during or soon after an infusion21.6%143
  8. Rashskin rash21%139
  9. Nauseafeeling sick20.4%135
  10. Drug hypersensitivityan allergic-type reaction to a medicine20.1%133
  11. Rheumatic fever20.1%133
  12. Treatment failurethe treatment did not work20.1%133
  13. Rheumatoid arthritisrheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory joint disease19.5%129
  14. Wound19.5%129
  15. Sleep disordera sleep problem19.3%128
  16. Synovitis19.3%128
  17. Confusional stateconfusion19.2%127
  18. Pericarditisinflammation of the sac around the heart18.9%125
  19. Onychomadesis18.7%124
  20. Pemphigus18.6%123
  21. Systemic lupus erythematosuslupus, an autoimmune disease18.3%121
  22. Drug intolerancethe medicine was not tolerated17.7%117
  23. Dyspnoeashortness of breath17.2%114
  24. Product use issuea problem in how the product was used16.5%109

Top 30 of 345 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 share of all reports in the database; 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

Death35.6%236
Life-threatening35%232
Hospitalisation (initial or prolonged)74.6%494
Disability33.1%219
Congenital anomaly28.9%191
Other serious80.5%533
Not serious4.8%32

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 20,646,523 reports. 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 20.9%6
2 to 110.8%5
12 to 171.4%9
18 to 4439.9%264
45 to 6424.3%161
65 to 745.3%35
75 and over6.8%45
Age not given20.7%137

Patient sex

Female74.5%493
Male12.4%82
Not given13.1%87

Who reported

Physician8.8%58
Pharmacist1.4%9
Other health professional71.6%474
Lawyer0.3%2
Consumer or non-health professional14.5%96
Not given3.5%23

Age and sex as stated in the report; the reporter's qualification is the primary source recorded by FDA. 17.4% of reports give the United States as the country of the event or reporter.

Reason for use recorded

Indication as recorded (MedDRA)ReportsShare
Rheumatoid arthritis213.2%
Foetal exposure during pregnancy91.4%
Supplementation therapy71.1%
Foreign body in eye40.6%
Eye disorder30.5%
Macular degeneration30.5%

The indication field is filled in by the reporter and is often blank; shares are of all 662 reports.

In context

MeasureVitamin AAll reports
Reports as suspect product66220,646,523
Share of that pool—0%
Reports, latest 12 months821,332,454
Marked serious95.2%57.4%
Death recorded among outcomes, per 1,000 reports35691
Hospitalisation recorded, per 1,000 reports746213
Consumer-filed share14.5%45.8%
Top term, share of reportsOff label use 34.9%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."

Questions about Vitamin A reports

How many adverse event reports has FDA received for Vitamin A?

662 reports list Vitamin A as a suspect or interacting product in the openFDA FAERS release of 28 Sep 2026, covering reports received through June 2026. 82 of them arrived in the latest 12 months. Another 6,371 list it only as a concomitant medication.

What reactions are recorded in Vitamin A reports?

off label use (34.9%), gastrooesophageal reflux disease (31.4%), drug ineffective (29.6%), product use in unapproved indication (24.9%) and pain (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 Vitamin A was responsible.

How serious are the reports?

95.2% are marked serious by the reporter. Among the outcomes recorded, 35.6% of reports include death and 74.6% 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 (71.6%), consumer or non-health professional (14.5%) and physician (8.8%). Most reports reach FDA through the manufacturer, which must forward reports it receives.

Are reports for Vitamin A rising?

82 reports in the 12 months to June 2026, down 32% from 120 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 Vitamin A 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 Vitamin A?

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 Vitamin A as a suspect or interacting product; reports listing it only as a concomitant medication (6,371) 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.