Prescription medication · Parathyroid Hormone Analog
teriparatide
Also sold as Forteo. This medicine treats osteoporosis in women after menopause who have a high chance of breaking a bone.
Data updated 2026-05-15
- 111,257
- FDA reportsOften reported
- 1
- InteractionFew interactions
- 52% less
- Generic vs brandBig savings
- $1726.47
- Brand price (NADAC)
What the data shows
teriparatide (Forteo) is a prescription Parathyroid Hormone Analog, more reported than most tracked drugs (111,257 FDA reports), whose generic runs roughly half the brand price or less (52% less).
Reporting volume reflects how widely a drug is used and studied, not how dangerous it is, a FAERS report documents a temporal association, never proof of cause.
teriparatide (Forteo) is a prescription Parathyroid Hormone Analog. This medicine treats osteoporosis in women after menopause who have a high chance of breaking a bone.
Teriparatide (Forteo) is a medicine that helps to strengthen your bones. It is similar to a natural hormone in your body that helps build bone.
Verify with FDA → · CMS NADAC pricing →
Drug Pricing (NADAC)
Brand Price
$1726.47/unit
Generic Price
$832.72/unit
Generic Savings
52%
Generic Available
Yes (3 manufacturers)
Pricing data from NADAC (CMS), effective December 18, 2024. Compare all drug costs →
What it does
This medicine treats osteoporosis in women after menopause who have a high chance of breaking a bone.
Common side effects
Joint pain, General pain, Feeling sick to your stomach (nausea)
Key warnings
This medicine may increase your risk of a type of bone cancer called osteosarcoma.
The sections below are summarized in plain English from teriparatide's FDA-approved prescribing information. They describe what the official label says, and are not personal medical advice.
How It Works
Teriparatide works like a hormone called parathyroid hormone. This hormone helps your body build new bone. By building new bone, this medicine helps make your bones stronger and less likely to break.
Side Effects (from patient reports)
Based on 111,257 FDA adverse event reports.
Most-reported reactions
Adverse reactions in FAERS for teriparatide, by number of reports
- Nausea
Nausea
8,956 reports
- Arthralgia
Arthralgia
8,658 reports
- Pain In Extremity
Pain In Extremity
8,338 reports
- Dizziness
Dizziness
8,265 reports
- Fall
Fall
7,872 reports
- Pain
Pain
7,516 reports
- Fatigue
Fatigue
7,159 reports
- Back Pain
Back Pain
5,903 reports
- Muscle Spasms
Muscle Spasms
5,730 reports
- Malaise
Malaise
5,658 reports
What this shows Bars show how often each reaction was reported, not how likely it is to happen, a report records a temporal association, never proof that the drug caused it.
Reports over time
Adverse-event reports filed for teriparatide each year to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS).
Year-to-year volume tracks usage, prescribing, and scrutiny, not a change in per-patient risk. Source: FDA FAERS.
Where teriparatide sits
teriparatide has more FDA adverse-event reports than 87% of the drugs FAERS tracks. A high position reflects how widely a drug is used and watched, not how dangerous it is.
Percentile across all drugs PlainMeds tracks by FAERS report volume. The dot is teriparatide; the line is the median (50th percentile).
FDA Adverse Event Report Analysis
Detailed analysis of 111,257 reports from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Reports span 2004–2025.
Total Reports
111,257
Reports Mentioning Death
5,261
4.7% of reports — not proof of cause
Hospitalization Reports
23,997
Top Indication
Osteoporosis
Gender Distribution
Age Distribution
Most Reported Adverse Reactions (FAERS)
| # | Reaction | Reports |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NAUSEA | 8,956 |
| 2 | ARTHRALGIA | 8,658 |
| 3 | PAIN IN EXTREMITY | 8,338 |
| 4 | DIZZINESS | 8,265 |
| 5 | FALL | 7,872 |
| 6 | PAIN | 7,516 |
| 7 | FATIGUE | 7,159 |
| 8 | BACK PAIN | 5,903 |
| 9 | MUSCLE SPASMS | 5,730 |
| 10 | MALAISE | 5,658 |
| 11 | HEADACHE | 5,461 |
| 12 | ASTHENIA | 5,426 |
| 13 | INJECTION SITE ERYTHEMA | 5,042 |
| 14 | INJECTION SITE PAIN | 4,807 |
| 15 | INJECTION SITE BRUISING | 4,762 |
Reactions in Death Reports
Reactions in Hospitalization Reports
Source: FDA FAERS (Adverse Event Reporting System) Reports are voluntary and do not establish causation
Serious Warnings
This medicine may increase your risk of a type of bone cancer called osteosarcoma. You should not use this medicine if you have certain bone conditions, such as Paget's disease, bone cancer, or have had radiation to your bones. If you have high calcium levels in your blood, talk to your doctor before taking this medicine.
Known Drug Interactions
Parathyroid Hormone Analog Teriparatide Sporadic case reports have suggested that hypercalcemia may predispose patients to digitalis toxicity. Teriparatide transiently increases serum calcium.
Mechanism: Teriparatide raises calcium levels in your blood, which can make the heart more sensitive to digoxin and lead to toxic effects.
This is a plain-language summary of FDA-label interaction records and does not provide individual medication-combination directions.
Common Questions
How long can I use teriparatide?
What should I do if the solution looks cloudy?
Can I inject this medicine into my muscle?
What if I have kidney stones?
Can this medicine affect my heart?
What if I am taking digoxin?
Can children use this medicine?
What do I do if the pen seems to be malfunctioning?
Does this medicine cause allergic reactions?
What if I recognize I am pregnant while using this medicine?
What are the common side effects of teriparatide?
Does teriparatide interact with other medications?
What drug class is teriparatide?
Is there a generic version of teriparatide?
What pregnancy or breastfeeding source fields are listed for teriparatide?
Related Medications in Parathyroid Hormone Analog
Other drugs grouped near teriparatide - same-class peers and common alternatives.
abaloparatide
Tymlos
Tymlos is a medicine to treat osteoporosis.
Compare with teriparatide →
alendronate
Fosamax
Binosto is a medicine that helps make your bones stronger.
Compare with teriparatide →
calcitonin
Miacalcin, Fortical
Calcitonin is a medicine that helps manage calcium levels in your body.
Compare with teriparatide →
denosumab
Prolia, Xgeva
Stoboclo is a medicine that helps to treat osteoporosis and increase bone mass.
Compare with teriparatide →
ibandronate
Boniva
Ibandronate (Boniva) is a medicine that helps treat and prevent bone loss in women after menopause.
Compare with teriparatide →
Compare beyond drug class
Nationwide peers by FAERS volume & death-report share
Two PlainMeds-derived comparison paths for teriparatide: nearest FDA FAERS report volume and nearest death-report share among drugs with at least 1,000 logged reports, excluding same-class neighbors listed above. Counts reflect reporting volume, not proven individual harm.
Similar FAERS report volume
Nearest drugs by total FAERS reports. This record: 111,257.
- sertraline Δ 941 reports · Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) 112,198reports
- famotidine Δ 1,239 reports · H2 Receptor Antagonist 110,018reports
- acyclovir Δ 1,559 reports · Antiviral (Nucleoside Analog) 109,698reports
- potassium chloride Δ 2,113 reports · Electrolyte Supplement 109,144reports
Similar death-report share
Nearest drugs by FAERS death-report share. This record: 4.73%.
- mometasone Δ 0.01 pts · 17,186 reports · Inhaled Corticosteroid 4.74%death share
- timolol Δ 0.02 pts · 11,690 reports · Beta-Blocker (Ophthalmic) 4.70%death share
- tofacitinib Δ 0.03 pts · 181,998 reports · JAK Inhibitor 4.76%death share
- fluocinonide Δ 0.06 pts · 5,460 reports · Topical Corticosteroid 4.67%death share
Medication Guides
Understanding Drug Interactions
How CYP450 enzymes, inhibitors, and inducers affect your medications
Generic vs Brand Name Drugs
FDA requirements, cost savings, and when the difference matters
Narrow Therapeutic Index Drugs
FDA bioequivalence and label-record context for narrow therapeutic index medicines
Common Drug Interactions
Dangerous medication combinations and how to protect yourself
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What the FDA Data Shows for teriparatide
The FDA label for teriparatide (sold under brand names such as Forteo) classifies it as a prescription-only medication in the Parathyroid Hormone Analog class. This medicine treats osteoporosis in women after menopause who have a high chance of breaking a bone. Official labeling lists 3 commonly reported side effects, including Joint pain, General pain, Feeling sick to your stomach (nausea).
Post-market surveillance from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) captures real-world experience. For this drug, FAERS contains 111,257 voluntary reports. The database also lists 1 documented drug interaction derived from FDA labeling, with the top-flagged interaction rated minor severity. NADAC pricing from CMS shows a generic unit cost of $832.72 versus $1726.47 for the brand - a 52% generic savings.
Report counts do not establish causation, a FAERS entry documents a temporal association, not proof that the drug produced the outcome. Widely prescribed medications naturally accumulate more reports than niche therapies, so raw totals must be interpreted alongside total exposure. Shortage status, recall history, and patent information are separate source-record fields. This page is a public FDA/CMS registry and does not provide medical, treatment, substitution, or medication-change directions.
Data Sources
Drug labeling: FDA Drug Labels (SPL/DailyMed). Adverse events: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Pricing: CMS National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC).
FAERS reports are voluntary and do not establish causation. Drug interactions are derived from FDA labeling and clinical references. This registry does not provide medication decisions.
Last updated: May 27, 2025
PlainMeds is rendered directly from FDA openFDA/FAERS extracts, DailyMed labels, and CMS drug-pricing files, no number is typed in by an editor. FAERS counts, recalls, shortages, and price figures on this page are queried live from those federal extracts. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026-05-15. Primary sources: openFDA / FAERS, DailyMed and CMS Part B ASP.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
Data currency: FDA FAERS adverse-event reports through 2025, CMS NADAC acquisition-cost pricing effective December 2024, compiled from the source snapshot dated . See our methodology for per-source dates and refresh cadence. Spot a figure that looks wrong? Report a data issue.
All federal data sources used on this page
- FDA Orange Book - approved drug products with therapeutic equivalence. accessdata.fda.gov/cder/ob
- FDA DailyMed - NIH-hosted drug labeling for FDA-approved meds. dailymed.nlm.nih.gov
- FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) - post-marketing safety surveillance. fda.gov/drugs/faers
- NLM RxNorm - standardized clinical drug nomenclature. nlm.nih.gov/research/umls/rxnorm
- CMS Medicare Part B Drug Average Sales Price Files - federal drug pricing data. cms.gov/medicare/part-b-drugs/asp
- FDA Drug Shortages Database - current and resolved drug shortage tracking. accessdata.fda.gov/drugshortages