FDA Adverse Events Reports (FAERS) Summary for PROVIGIL
These tables and charts are based on 17,022 total reports for PROVIGIL (MODAFINIL) received by the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) from 2004 through July 30, 2026.
This FAERS total includes 16,704 pharmaceutical company-submitted and non-U.S. FAERS reports and 318 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 318 U.S. reports
filed via the FDA MedWatch voluntary reporting system, view our FDA MedWatch PROVIGIL summary report.
(See notes section below for explanation of FDA’s mandatory and voluntary reporting system.)
Top 20 Adverse Effects Associated with PROVIGIL (reported in FAERS Database) Latest Known Outcomes for Reactions Reported for PROVIGIL
Based on 8748 reports that included a patient age.
Side Effect # of FDA Reports 1 FATIGUE 1599 2 NAUSEA 1193 3 DRUG INEFFECTIVE 1101 4 HEADACHE 965 5 FALL 939 6 DEPRESSION 843 7 PAIN 746 8 ANXIETY 734 9 DIZZINESS 733 10 DROWSINESS 728 11 LACK OF STRENGTH AND ENERGY (ASTHENIA) 618 12 INSOMNIA 612 13 CONDITION AGGRAVATED 587 14 WEIGHT DECREASED 579 15 SHORTNESS OF BREATH 561 16 FEELING ABNORMAL 553 17 GAIT DISTURBANCE 546 18 DIARRHEA 537 19 VOMITING 530 20 MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS RELAPSE 514 Latest Known Outcome for Reported Reactions Number of Cases 1 Unknown Outcome 8647 2 Patient has not recovered/symtoms have not resolved 4197 3 Patient recovered 3136 4 Patient is recovering/symptoms resolving 1281 5 Patient died 257 6 Patient has recovered but has consequent health issues 56 Yearly FDA Adverse Event Reports (Table)
Year Number of Reports 2004 293 2005 428 2006 395 2007 518 2008 657 2009 549 2010 663 2011 818 2012 882 2013 659 2014 837 2015 1615 2016 3818 2017 1391 2018 755 2019 489 2020 696 2021 372 2022 350 2023 341 2024 268 2025 157 2026 71 Reports by Patient Age Group (Table)
Age Group Number of Reports 0-10 45 11-20 261 21-30 675 31-40 1278 41-50 2086 51-60 2418 61-70 1399 71-80 438 81-90 133 91+ 15
PROVIGIL Total Reports
| Male | Female | Unknown | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4764 | 11879 | 379 | 17,022 |
Top Countries Reporting
| Country | Number of Reports | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 12068 |
| 2 | Israel | 40 |
| 3 | Belgium | 13 |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 10 |
| 5 | Ireland | 7 |
| 6 | Italy | 6 |
| 7 | South Africa | 5 |
| 8 | Germany | 4 |
| 9 | France | 3 |
| 10 | Finland | 2 |
Outcomes for Reports
Serious: 9237
Not Serious: 7784
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 | |
| Narcolepsy | |
| Product used for unknown indication | |
| Oxygen saturation decreased | |
| Fatigue | |
| Depressed level of consciousness | |
Top Companies Reporting
| TEVA | |
FDA Approval Date: 1998-12-24
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 PROVIGIL 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
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.
