MedDRA preferred term · the device broke

Device breakage: adverse event reports recording this term

38,771 reports to FDA record it, 2005–2026; 0.2% of the database.

Read first · FDA's statement on these data

Adverse event reports submitted to FDA do not undergo extensive validation or verification. Therefore, a causal relationship cannot be established between product and reactions listed in a report. While a suspected relationship may exist, it is not medically validated and should not be the sole source of information for clinical decision making or other assumptions about the safety or efficacy of a product. Additionally, it is important to remember that adverse event reports represent a small percentage of total usage numbers of a product. Common products may have a higher number of adverse events due to the higher total number of people using the product. openFDA, FDA

FDA adds: "There is no certainty that the reported event (adverse event or medication error) was actually due to the product. FDA does not require that a causal relationship between a product and event be proven, and reports do not always contain enough detail to properly evaluate an event." The information in these reports "cannot be used to estimate the incidence of these events."

Do not rely on openFDA to make decisions regarding medical care. While we make every effort to ensure that data is accurate, you should assume all results are unvalidated.

Not medical advice. This site counts what was reported to FDA. Questions about a medicine or device belong with a pharmacist or clinician.

38,771
reports recording the term: 0.2% of all reports; 5,865
reports, 12 months to June 2026: 5,269 in the 12 months before; 47.5%
marked serious by the reporter: 57.4% across all reports; 0.6%
record death among outcomes, as reported: 9.1% across all reports

"Device breakage" (in plain words, the device broke) is a MedDRA preferred term recorded in 38,771 adverse event reports received by FDA, 0.2% of the database, from May 2005 to June 2026. The term is chosen by whoever codes the report to match what the reporter described.

5,865 reports recorded it in the 12 months to June 2026, up 11% from 5,269 in the 12 months before. FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases. Of reports recording this term, 47.5% are marked serious, 0.6% include death among the outcomes and 7.6% include hospitalisation, as reported.

The drugs listed most often as suspect products in those reports are ParaGard T 380A, Genotropin and Nexplanon. That order mostly follows how many reports each drug has overall; the table also gives the term's share within each drug's own reports. 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

FDA releases FAERS data quarterly, so the newest months are incomplete and grow in later releases.

Drugs listed as suspect products in these reports

Drug	Class	Reports with this term	Share of the drug's own reports
ParaGard T 380A	Copper-containing intrauterine device	11,138	26.6%
Genotropin	—	7,721	17.2%
Nexplanon	Progestin	4,474	10.2%
Mirena	Progestin	3,038	2.3%
Omnitrope	Recombinant human growth hormone	1,577	14%
Implanon	—	591	6.3%
EluRyng	Estrogen	486	67.3%
Humira	—	419	0.1%
Remodulin	Prostacycline vasodilator	350	0.7%
Nuvaring	Estrogen	327	1.8%
Carbidopa levodopa	Aromatic amino acid	290	1.4%
Paragard 380a	—	253	4.2%
Duopa	Aromatic amino acid	234	2.8%
Albuterol sulfate	beta2-Adrenergic agonist	224	0.5%
Daytrana	Central nervous system stimulant	218	1.6%
Fosamax	Bisphosphonate	198	0.6%
Kyleena	Progestin	195	2.4%
Risperdal Consta	—	181	1.3%
Semglee	Insulin analog	179	8.8%
Veletri	Prostacycline vasodilator	159	1.8%
Duodopa	—	154	0.9%
Paragard T380a	—	150	9.2%
Lantus	Insulin analog	143	0.4%
Lantus Solostar	Insulin analog	129	0.3%
Lioresal (baclofen)	gamma-Aminobutyric acid-ergic agonist	124	1.1%

Drugs with a page on this site, ordered by the number of their reports recording this term. The last column is the term's share within that drug's own reports, against 0.2% across the whole database. 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."

By pharmacologic class

Class	Reports with this term	Share of class reports	Median drug in class
Copper-containing intrauterine device	11,138	25.8%	13.3%
Progestin	7,971	2.7%	0.3%
Recombinant human growth hormone	1,665	7.8%	0.9%
Estrogen	1,020	0.8%	0%
Insulin analog	620	0.2%	0.1%
Prostacycline vasodilator	596	0.5%	0.2%
Aromatic amino acid	542	1%	0.1%
Bisphosphonate	344	0.4%	0%
Corticosteroid	339	0%	0%
beta2-Adrenergic agonist	300	0.3%	0%

Classes ordered by count. Class shares follow the class's overall report volume as much as anything else.

Patients in these reports

Patient age

Under 20.3%129

2 to 117.5%2,901

12 to 1710%3,884

18 to 4425.4%9,846

45 to 648.8%3,425

65 to 742.9%1,126

75 and over1.7%668

Age not given43.3%16,792

Patient sex

Female70.7%27,394

Male21.2%8,235

Not given8.1%3,142

Grey bar: all 20,646,523 reports in the database. 87% of these reports give the United States as the country.

Questions about "Device breakage"

What does "Device breakage" mean in an adverse event report?

In plain language: the device broke. It is a MedDRA preferred term, the dictionary FDA uses to code what a reporter described. The report's own description is not published by openFDA and is not shown here.

How many reports record device breakage?

38,771 reports through June 2026 (0.2% of all reports), 5,865 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which drugs appear most often in these reports?

ParaGard T 380A (11,138), Genotropin (7,721), Nexplanon (4,474), Mirena (3,038) and Omnitrope (1,577). Drugs with many reports overall lead almost every term's list. 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."

Does a drug appearing here mean it was responsible for this reaction?

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."

I have this symptom. What should I do?

This site cannot assess anyone. A pharmacist or clinician can; for an emergency, call the local emergency number. Nothing on this page is medical advice.

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. Terms are pooled across spelling and capitalisation variants of one MedDRA preferred term. 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.