Drug Safety Information for PLAQUENIL (Hydroxychloroquine sulfate)

FDA Safety Communication for Hydroxychloroquine (HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE SULFATE) Rx Drug: FDA Link

FDA cautions against the use of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine for COVID-19 outside of the hospital setting or a clinical trial due to risk of heart rhythm problems Drug Safety Communication

Safety-related Labeling Changes for PLAQUENIL (HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE SULFATE) Rx Drug: FDA Link

Adverse Drug Reactions for PLAQUENIL* (Hydroxychloroquine sulfate)

These charts and graphs are based on reports received through the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) program (see below).

Top 20 Adverse Effects Associated with PLAQUENIL
(reported in FDA Medwatch/FAERS Reports)

  Side Effect # of FDA Reports
1Injection site pain1890
2Arthralgia*1726
3Drug ineffective1598
4Nausea*1585
5Fatigue1514
6Pain*1465
7Headache*1458
8Rheumatoid arthritis1295
9Pain in extremity1087
10Dyspnoea1060
11Injection site erythema1058
12Diarrhoea*1040
13Pyrexia924
14Vomiting882
15Dizziness870
16Rash*803
17Injection site haematoma798
18Cough787
19Pneumonia781
20Fall749

* This side effect also appears in "Top 10 Side Effects of PLAQUENIL " in the drug's Review Summary based on AskaPatient reviews.

Top 10 Reasons for Taking PLAQUENIL
(associated with FDA Medwatch/FAERS Reports)

Reason # of FDA Reports
1Rheumatoid arthritis*17052
2Product used for unknown indication14624
3Systemic lupus erythematosus*6531
4Arthritis*1888
5Sjogren's syndrome*619
6Psoriatic arthropathy*351
7Cutaneous lupus erythematosus295
8Arthralgia*206
9Inflammation203
10Connective tissue disorder200

*Also a top-10 reason in AskaPatient Review Summary.


Types of Adverse Events for PLAQUENIL

Total Reports Filed with FDA: 115248


Number of FDA Adverse Event Reports by Patient Age for PLAQUENIL

Total Reports Filed with FDA: 115248*


* Reports for drugs with the same active ingredients have been aggregated in this analysis: Hydroxychloroquine sulfate (Hcq, Hydroxychlorochin, Hydroxychloroquine, Hidroxicloroquina, Plaquenil)

Charts are based on 115248 reports filed with the FDA between 2004 and June 2015.

Adverse Event Reports are submitted to the FDA by pharmaceutical companies (mandatory reporting is required by manufacturers, distributors, or importers), health care providers such as doctors (voluntary reporting), and by patients themselves (voluntary reporting). More Information on FDA MedWatch (FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program)Voluntary reporting takes place under the FDA's MedWatch program, where health care professionals and consumers submit reports to FDA when they find a problem with a drug, medical device, biologic, or other FDA-regulated product. An adverse event is any undesirable experience or extreme side effect associated with the use of a medical product. Adverse events include: death, life threatening event, hospitalization, disability or permanent damage, congenital anomaly or birth defect, medical product use requiring a surgical or other intervention, or other serious medical situation believed to be caused by the drug.

Click to go back to search results and PLAQUENIL Reviews and Review Summary .

Historical Analytics of FDA Adverse Event Reports Provided by Druginformer.com. FDA Drug Safety Information, including safety-related labeling updates, required post-approval safety studies, risk evaluation management strategies (REMS), alerts, and recalls are compiled by AskaPatient.com from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.