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What the label lists and what reports show

Meropenem side effects

Meropenem's FDA label: “Most common adverse reactions (2% or less) are: headache, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, anemia, vomiting, and rash.” FAERS holds 31,906 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 pyrexia (2,176 reports).

  • Generic listed

Check it at the source: the meropenem FDA label on DailyMed (effective July 16, 2025, Eugia US LLC); the FDA FAERS public dashboard.

What does the label list?

From the label: adverse reactions

Most common adverse reactions (2% or less) are: headache, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, anemia, vomiting, and rash.

From the label: adverse reactions, continued

The following are discussed in greater detail in other sections of labeling: Hypersensitivity Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Severe Cutaneous Adverse Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Rhabdomyolysis [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] Seizure Potential [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] Risk of Breakthrough Seizures Due to Drug Interaction with Valproic Acid [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] Clostridioides difficile –associated Diarrhea [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ] Development of Drug-Resistant Bacteria [see Warnings and Precautions (5.7) ] Overgrowth of Nonsusceptible Organisms [see Warnings and Precautions (5.8) ] Thrombocytopenia [see Warnings and Precautions (5.9) ] Potential for Neuromotor Impairment [see Warnings and Precautions (5.10) ] Most common adverse reactions (2% or less) are: headache, nausea, constipation, diarrhea, anemia, vomiting, and rash. ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Eugia US LLC at 1-866-850-2876 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch. 6.1 Adverse Reactions from Clinical Trials Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reactions rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. …

Source: FDA drug label, Eugia US LLC, effective July 16, 2025 (SPL set bf1d3433-9e3f-40a0-8bff-c8ceaa8bab7c), via openFDA; the full label on DailyMed

What do FAERS reports show?

31,906 reports list meropenem among the medicines taken, each a report of something that happened, not proof the medicine caused it; 9,524 are coded as a death and 17,033 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 19 reactions below, 10 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

  • Drug Ineffective (a use or a product term, not a reaction)4,483
  • Off Label Use (a use or a product term, not a reaction)3,305
  • Pyrexia2,176
  • Pneumonia (a use or a product term, not a reaction)1,488
  • Septic Shock1,422
  • Sepsis (named in the label)1,409
  • Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome1,309
  • Acute Kidney Injury1,284
  • Condition Aggravated (a use or a product term, not a reaction)1,240
  • Febrile Neutropenia1,134
  • Thrombocytopenia (named in the label)1,129
  • Diarrhoea (named in the label)1,118
  • Respiratory Failure1,118
  • Drug Interaction (a use or a product term, not a reaction)960
  • Neutropenia (named in the label)936
  • Anaemia (named in the label)898
  • Hypotension (named in the label)860
  • Dyspnoea (named in the label)821
  • Drug Reaction With Eosinophilia And Systemic Symptoms (named in the label)811
  • Drug Resistance811
  • Product Use In Unapproved Indication (a use or a product term, not a reaction)808
  • Rash (named in the label)801
  • Pancytopenia774
  • Nausea (named in the label)726
  • Renal Failure679

Source: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) via openFDA, reports through July 30, 2026; reactions as MedDRA preferred terms

What next?

Meropenem: the full record
label, generics, price, shortages, recalls
Side effects hub
the most reported medicines and reactions