MedDRA preferred term · the device was hard to use

Device difficult to use: adverse event reports recording this term

65,213 reports to FDA record it, 2008–2026; 0.3% 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.

65,213
reports recording the term: 0.3% of all reports; 3,779
reports, 12 months to June 2026: 9,159 in the 12 months before; 12.3%
marked serious by the reporter: 57.4% across all reports; 0.2%
record death among outcomes, as reported: 9.1% across all reports

"Device difficult to use" (in plain words, the device was hard to use) is a MedDRA preferred term recorded in 65,213 adverse event reports received by FDA, 0.3% of the database, from March 2008 to June 2026. The term is chosen by whoever codes the report to match what the reporter described.

3,779 reports recorded it in the 12 months to June 2026, down 59% from 9,159 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, 12.3% are marked serious, 0.2% include death among the outcomes and 3.4% include hospitalisation, as reported.

The drugs listed most often as suspect products in those reports are Repatha, Aimovig 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
Repatha	PCSK9 inhibitor	32,918	21.1%
Aimovig	—	10,105	19.4%
Nexplanon	Progestin	4,554	10.4%
Mirena	Progestin	3,962	3.1%
Enbrel	Tumor necrosis factor blocker	3,341	0.6%
Genotropin	—	1,047	2.3%
Implanon	—	1,004	10.7%
Inbrija	Aromatic amino acid	487	8.3%
Humira	—	456	0.1%
Daytrana	Central nervous system stimulant	389	2.8%
Amjevita	Tumor necrosis factor blocker	362	25.6%
Omnitrope	Recombinant human growth hormone	341	3%
Remodulin	Prostacycline vasodilator	227	0.5%
Carbidopa levodopa	Aromatic amino acid	218	1.1%
Cosentyx	Interleukin-17A antagonist	196	0.1%
Orencia	Selective T cell costimulation modulator	185	0.2%
Prolia	RANK ligand inhibitor	179	0.1%
Ajovy	—	167	1.7%
Estradiol	Estrogen	157	1%
Skyla	Progestin	146	2.7%
Dupixent	Interleukin-4 receptor alpha antagonist	139	0%
Actemra	Interleukin-6 receptor antagonist	118	0.1%
Neulasta	Leukocyte growth factor	118	0.1%
Avonex	Interferon beta	117	0.1%
Tanzeum	—	115	1.4%

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 0.3% 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
PCSK9 inhibitor	32,973	18.3%	0.4%
Progestin	8,764	3%	0%
Tumor necrosis factor blocker	3,939	0.4%	0%
Aromatic amino acid	814	1.5%	0.4%
Estrogen	413	0.3%	0%
Central nervous system stimulant	405	0.4%	0%
Corticosteroid	400	0%	0%
Recombinant human growth hormone	373	1.7%	0.3%
Prostacycline vasodilator	287	0.2%	0.1%
Selective T cell costimulation modulator	199	0.2%	0.2%

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%9

2 to 110.9%567

12 to 171.8%1,195

18 to 4414.8%9,630

45 to 6420.2%13,202

65 to 7421.4%13,967

75 and over20.5%13,394

Age not given20.3%13,249

Patient sex

Female70.2%45,801

Male24.1%15,701

Not given5.7%3,711

Grey bar: all 20,646,523 reports in the database. 96.2% of these reports give the United States as the country.

Questions about "Device difficult to use"

What does "Device difficult to use" mean in an adverse event report?

In plain language: the device was hard to use. 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 difficult to use?

65,213 reports through June 2026 (0.3% of all reports), 3,779 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which drugs appear most often in these reports?

Repatha (32,918), Aimovig (10,105), Nexplanon (4,554), Mirena (3,962) and Enbrel (3,341). 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.