FDA Adverse Events Reports (FAERS) Summary for ARAVA
These tables and charts are based on 53,150 total reports for ARAVA (LEFLUNOMIDE) received by the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 2004 through July 30, 2026.
This FAERS total includes 52,937 pharmaceutical company-submitted and non-U.S. FAERS reports and 213 U.S. consumer or healthcare provider-submitted
MedWatch reports. Adverse events listed on this page represent serious and sometimes rare adverse events
reported to pharmaceutical companies, and often do not represent typical side
effects for the medication. Find common side effects in the most recent
official drug label.
For a separate summary of the 213 U.S. reports
filed via the FDA MedWatch voluntary reporting system, view our FDA MedWatch ARAVA summary report.
(See notes section below for explanation of FDA’s mandatory and voluntary reporting system.)
Top 20 Adverse Effects Associated with ARAVA (reported in FAERS Database) Latest Known Outcomes for Reactions Reported for ARAVA
Based on 30523 reports that included a patient age.
Side Effect # of FDA Reports 1 DRUG INEFFECTIVE 22706 2 RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS 16873 3 PAIN 14008 4 FATIGUE 11286 5 JOINT PAIN 11163 6 JOINT SWELLING 11129 7 DRUG INTOLERANCE 10669 8 ABDOMINAL DISCOMFORT 9925 9 RASH 9656 10 HAIR LOSS 9577 11 CONTRAINDICATED PRODUCT ADMINISTERED 9186 12 JOINT PAIN 8864 13 SWELLING 8675 14 LUPUS 8621 15 BLISTERS 8262 16 OFF LABEL USE 7635 17 BURNING MOUTH SYNDROME 7496 18 CONDITION AGGRAVATED 7411 19 HYPERSENSITIVITY 7387 20 JOINT INFLAMMATION 7280 Latest Known Outcome for Reported Reactions Number of Cases 1 Unknown Outcome 29010 2 Patient has not recovered/symtoms have not resolved 18646 3 Patient recovered 6265 4 Patient died 4644 5 Patient is recovering/symptoms resolving 2780 6 Patient has recovered but has consequent health issues 213 Yearly FDA Adverse Event Reports (Table)
Year Number of Reports 2004 665 2005 643 2006 701 2007 948 2008 864 2009 829 2010 745 2011 965 2012 1372 2013 1504 2014 1417 2015 1947 2016 2676 2017 3711 2018 4506 2019 5574 2020 7480 2021 4838 2022 3711 2023 1889 2024 3055 2025 2425 2026 685 Reports by Patient Age Group (Table)
Age Group Number of Reports 0-10 112 11-20 205 21-30 682 31-40 2994 41-50 7929 51-60 8335 61-70 6270 71-80 3327 81-90 519 91+ 150
ARAVA Total Reports
| Male | Female | Unknown | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6611 | 40316 | 6223 | 53,150 |
Top Countries Reporting
| Country | Number of Reports | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Canada | 31145 |
| 2 | United States | 9073 |
| 3 | Brazil | 1019 |
| 4 | France | 914 |
| 5 | Australia | 300 |
| 6 | South Africa | 299 |
| 7 | Germany | 261 |
| 8 | Spain | 216 |
| 9 | United Kingdom | 177 |
| 10 | Italy | 166 |
Outcomes for Reports
Serious: 44850
Not Serious: 8297
Note: A serious outcome means the adverse event resulted in death, a life threatening condition, hospitalization, disability, congenital anomaly, or other serious condition.
| Top Indications | |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | |
| Product used for unknown indication | |
| PSORIATIC ARTHRITIS | |
| Polyarthritis | |
| Peripheral spondyloarthritis | |
Top Companies Reporting
| SANOFI AVENTIS | |
FDA Approval Date: 1998-09-10 ARAVA (LEFLUNOMIDE) Rx Drug: For serious adverse events, report them to the FDA by contacting the drug manufacturer or report directly through the
MedWatch voluntary reporting form.
Events listed on this page represent serious and often rare adverse events
reported to pharmaceutical companies, and do not represent typical side
effects for the medication. Find common side effects on the most recent
official drug label
This report, created by AskaPatient.com, is derived from the cases for ARAVA reported to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) and
obtained from Open FDA. Data was last
updated with reports received through July 30, 2026.
Adverse Event Reports are submitted to the FAERS database by pharmaceutical companies (mandatory reporting is required by manufacturers, distributors, or importers).
Health care providers such as doctors (voluntary reporting), and patients themselves (voluntary reporting)
report to the FDA directly through the MedWatch program. Those MedWatch
reports are coded and included in the FAERS database. This report mainly
consists of the mandatory reports, because the MedWatch reports are a small
percentage (3 - 5%) of total reports. Link to the MedWatch summary report at
the top of the page for a summary of the directly reported
(voluntary) adverse events for this drug.The number of reports included here might differ
somewhat from the number of reports in the downloadable quarterly FAERS
reports and in the online FAERS dashboard, due to lags in reporting, drug
name differences,
duplicates, and other factors. Open FDA states that it only includes the
most recent version of a case report. It also adds the disclaimer:
"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."
FDA uses the "MedDRA" classification system to describe reported adverse
reactions. MedDRA is a standardized medical terminology that facilitates
sharing of regulatory information internationally. In some cases, "patient
friendly" terms for the layman designated by MedDRA have been substituted
for medical jargon. Please
contact us
with questions or comments about this report.
Safety-Related FDA Updates
Safety-related Labeling Changes
Have experience (good or bad) with ARAVA? Rate ARAVA at Ask a Patient.
Notes
This summary includes ALL reports where the
drug is a "primary OR secondary OR suspected interacting" drug. Typically, reports are filed for the most serious type or "event" and do not represent incidental or minor side effects. The majority
of these reports are mandatory reports submitted by pharmaceutical
companies, who receive complaints from consumers. The reactions, side effects, or "adverse events," represent up to the 20 most
frequently occuring events in the database for a drug related to the event.
This report also features counts of latest known outcomes associated with
reported side effects, but does not provide the specific outcomes for specific
adverse events.
