What the label lists and what reports show
Etomidate side effects
Etomidate's FDA label lists its adverse reactions in its own words. FAERS holds 2,216 reports naming it through July 30, 2026; the reaction reported most often, leaving out the conditions it is used for, product-use terms and outcomes, is renal failure (240 reports).
- Generic listed
- In shortage
Check it at the source: the etomidate FDA label on DailyMed (effective May 20, 2026, Hospira, Inc.); the FDA FAERS public dashboard.
What does the label list?
From the label: adverse reactionsThe most frequent adverse reactions associated with use of intravenous AMIDATE are transient venous pain on injection and transient skeletal muscle movements, including myoclonus: 1. Transient venous pain was observed immediately following intravenous injection of etomidate in about 20% of the patients, with considerable difference in the reported incidence (1.2% to 42%). This pain is usually described as mild to moderate in severity but it is occasionally judged disturbing. The observation of venous pain is not associated with a more than usual incidence of thrombosis or thrombophlebitis at the injection site. Pain also appears to be less frequently noted when larger, more proximal arm veins are employed and it appears to be more frequently noted when smaller, more distal, hand or wrist veins are employed. 2. …
Source: FDA drug label, Hospira, Inc., effective May 20, 2026 (SPL set b7ed5bf8-ba75-44dc-8f81-96b4ad5766be), via openFDA; the full label on DailyMed
What do FAERS reports show?
2,216 reports list etomidate among the medicines taken, each a report of something that happened, not proof the medicine caused it; 477 are coded as a death and 939 as a hospital stay. Counts follow how widely a medicine is used and watched, and they are not a measure of how risky it is. Of the 21 reactions below, 2 are named by the same term (in US spelling) in the label's adverse reactions, warnings or patient leaflet; a reaction the label does not name may still be there under another word, and a report does not show that the medicine caused it.
Reports received each year
The 25 most reported reactions
Source: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) via openFDA, reports through July 30, 2026; reactions as MedDRA preferred terms
What next?
- Etomidate: the full record
- label, generics, price, shortages, recalls
- Report a side effect to the FDA
- MedWatch
- Side effects hub
- the most reported medicines and reactions