About WhatMyPillDoes

What Is This Site?

WhatMyPillDoes is a free, public resource that organizes data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) into an accessible format. We cross-reference five FDA data sources to provide comprehensive drug safety information.

Data Sources

• FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) — The primary source of adverse event reports, updated quarterly. Reports from healthcare professionals, consumers, and manufacturers.
• openFDA Drug Labels — Official FDA-approved drug labels including adverse reactions, warnings, and contraindications.
• Drugs@FDA — Drug approval data including application type, approval dates, and marketing status.
• NDC Directory — National Drug Code directory with pharmacological classification data.
• Orange Book — Therapeutic equivalence evaluations and patent information.

Important Limitations

• Reporting bias: FAERS is a voluntary reporting system. The number of reports does not reflect the actual frequency of adverse events.
• No causation: A report of an adverse event with a drug does not mean the drug caused the event.
• Underreporting: Only a fraction of adverse events are reported to FAERS.
• Duplicate reports: While we deduplicate reports using FDA's CASEID/CASEVERSION system, some duplicates may remain.
• Not medical advice: This site is for informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional for medical decisions.

Methodology

We process FAERS quarterly data files from 2014 to present. Reports are deduplicated by keeping only the latest version of each case (highest CASEVERSION per CASEID). Drug names are normalized to remove dosage forms and salt suffixes, allowing consistent grouping across different formulations of the same active ingredient.

Update Schedule

Data is updated quarterly when new FAERS files are released by the FDA, typically 3-6 months after the reporting period. Last update: 2026-02-26 16:55:08.

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