Dapsone Topical and Phenytoin Interaction

Drug interaction information between Dapsone Topical and Phenytoin.

Dapsone Topical and Phenytoin have a documented moderate interaction in FDA labeling.

FDA drug labeling documents a moderate-severity interaction between Dapsone Topical and Phenytoin. This page displays the available source-record category and label text. The category is not an individual risk estimate or medication-combination direction.

Drug A

Dapsone Topical

Topical Anti-Inflammatory

Drug B

Phenytoin

Anticonvulsant (Hydantoin)

How They Interact

Both medications can cause a blood issue where your body's tissues do not get enough oxygen. Using them together increases the chance of this side effect occurring.

FDA Label Information

7.4 Concomitant Use with Drugs that Induce Methemoglobinemia Concomitant use of ACZONE Gel, 7.5% with drugs that induce methemoglobinemia such as sulfonamides, acetaminophen, acetanilide, aniline dyes, benzocaine, chloroquine, dapsone, naphthalene, nitrates and nitrites, nitrofurantoin, nitroglycerin, nitroprusside, pamaquine, para‐aminosalicylic acid, phenacetin, phenobarbital, phenytoin, primaquine, and quinine may increase the risk for developing methemoglobinemia [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] .

Frequently Asked Questions

What SPL severity band is on file for Dapsone Topical + Phenytoin?

Compiled FDA labeling labels this pair moderate. That is a source-record field, not an individual medication-combination decision.

Which drug in this pair has the larger labeled-interaction portfolio?

Phenytoin has 147 labeled pairs on file vs Dapsone Topical's 10. In the moderate band specifically: Dapsone Topical has 6 (also Acetaminophen, Nitrofurantoin, Chloroquine, Nitroglycerin); Phenytoin has 23 (also Apixaban, Aprepitant, Canagliflozin, Carbidopa/Levodopa).

What mechanism field is on file for Dapsone Topical and Phenytoin?

Both medications can cause a blood issue where your body's tissues do not get enough oxygen. Using them together increases the chance of this side effect occurring.

Phenytoin carries more major-labeled pairs than Dapsone Topical

SPL source-record counts only. This page's band is moderate · classes on file: Dapsone Topical (Topical Anti-Inflammatory); Phenytoin (Anticonvulsant (Hydantoin)).

Phenytoin has 4 major-labeled pairs vs Dapsone Topical's 0. This page itself is in the moderate band, not the major band.

Dapsone Topical

0 major · 6 moderate · 4 minor · 10 total

Phenytoin

4 major · 23 moderate · 120 minor · 147 total

Sources: FDA Drug Labels (SPL) via openFDA (2026). This is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. This registry does not provide individual medication-combination directions.