MedDRA preferred term · the product smelt odd

Product odour abnormal: adverse event reports recording this term

10,245 reports to FDA record it, 2009–2026; 0.1% 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.

10,245
reports recording the term: 0.1% of all reports; 885
reports, 12 months to June 2026: 886 in the 12 months before; 16.5%
marked serious by the reporter: 57.4% across all reports; 0.1%
record death among outcomes, as reported: 9.1% across all reports

10,245 reports in FDA's adverse event database record the MedDRA term "Product odour abnormal" (in plain words, the product smelt odd): 0.1% of all reports received between April 2009 and June 2026. Coders pick the term that best matches the reporter's description.

885 reports recorded it in the 12 months to June 2026, close to the 886 of 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, 16.5% are marked serious, 0.1% include death among the outcomes and 3.5% include hospitalisation, as reported.

The drugs listed most often as suspect products in those reports are Vascepa, Clarispray Nasal Allergy and MiraLAX. 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
Vascepa	—	1,017	24.7%
Clarispray Nasal Allergy	—	392	23.6%
MiraLAX	Osmotic laxative	382	1%
Bupropion hydrochloride	Aminoketone	381	1.6%
Metformin hydrochloride	Biguanide	164	0.7%
Progesterone	Progesterone	137	2.5%
Genotropin	—	107	0.2%
Refresh Tears Pf	Non-Standardized chemical allergen	104	30.8%
Lupkynis	Calcineurin inhibitor immunosuppressant	92	1.1%
Omega-3-acid ethyl esters	—	92	8.8%
Clopidogrel	P2Y12 platelet inhibitor	88	0.3%
Levetiracetam	—	88	0.2%
Metformin	Biguanide	79	0.1%
Advil	Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug	72	0.4%
NP Thyroid	l-Thyroxine	71	9.4%
Synthroid	l-Thyroxine	70	0.3%
Systane Lubricant	—	67	9.6%
Diclofenac	Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug	61	0.2%
Testosterone	Androgen	61	0.9%
Gabapentin	Anti-epileptic agent	59	0.1%
Lantus Solostar	Insulin analog	59	0.1%
Testim	Androgen	58	1.9%
Ibuprofen	Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug	57	0.1%
Metformin hcl	Biguanide	56	0.5%
Gavilax	Osmotic laxative	55	26.1%

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 0.1% 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
Aminoketone	470	0.7%	0.2%
Osmotic laxative	389	0.3%	0%
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug	321	0.1%	0%
Biguanide	303	0.3%	0%
Corticosteroid	259	0%	0%
l-Thyroxine	202	0.4%	0.4%
Angiotensin 2 receptor blocker	148	0.1%	0%
Insulin analog	146	0.1%	0%
Progesterone	137	1.8%	0%
Androgen	119	0.6%	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%34

2 to 112.1%217

12 to 171.1%112

18 to 4410.4%1,064

45 to 6417.3%1,775

65 to 7411.1%1,137

75 and over5.8%594

Age not given51.8%5,312

Patient sex

Female54.8%5,615

Male28%2,865

Not given17.2%1,765

Grey bar: all 20,646,523 reports in the database. 95.1% of these reports give the United States as the country.

Questions about "Product odour abnormal"

What does "Product odour abnormal" mean in an adverse event report?

In plain language: the product smelt odd. 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 product odour abnormal?

10,245 reports through June 2026 (0.1% of all reports), 885 of them in the latest 12 months.

Which drugs appear most often in these reports?

Vascepa (1,017), Clarispray Nasal Allergy (392), MiraLAX (382), Bupropion hydrochloride (381) and Metformin hydrochloride (164). 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.