FDA FAERS Dataset
⚠️ FDA FAERS and FDA MAUDE are deprecated. The same drug and device adverse-event data is now unified in FDA AEMS Adverse Events: one actively-maintained dataset, updated weekly, with built-in PRR signal detection. This legacy dataset is frozen (final data May 2026); please use FDA AEMS.
About the Dataset
The FDA FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) Dataset is a comprehensive data product providing normalized, cleaned, and analytically-ready access to pharmaceutical drug adverse event reports. This dataset encompasses over 18 million adverse event records, 65 million drug records, 54 million reaction records, and 18 million patient records, with advanced data quality enhancements and 4 pre-aggregated analytical reporting models for drug safety surveillance.
Get Full Access | Snowflake Marketplace. For Databricks, see FDA AEMS
Quick Access
Base Tables: Adverse events, drugs involved, patient demographics, reported reactions, and report sources Aggregate Models: 4 pre-built analytical views for drug safety analysis, risk profiling, and trend monitoring Update Frequency: No longer updated; dataset frozen (final data May 2026). See FDA AEMS for current, weekly-updated adverse-event data.
Overview
The FDA FAERS Dataset provides comprehensive access to pharmaceutical drug adverse event data including:
Core Event Data (drug__events) - Main table with cleaned adverse event reports
Drug Information (drug__events_drugs) - Detailed information about drugs involved in events
Patient Demographics (drug__events_patients) - Normalized patient data with age and demographic information
Adverse Reactions (drug__events_reactions) - MedDRA-coded reactions and outcomes
Report Sources (drug__events_report_sources) - Information about who reported the events
Analytical Reports - Pre-aggregated intelligence for drug safety analysis, demographic risk profiling, and trend monitoring
Ready to access FDA FAERS data?
Snowflake
Databricks
Questions? Contact our team for a walkthrough.
The FAERS Database as Quarterly-Updated SQL
FAERS (the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) is the FDA's database of drug adverse event reports: side effects, medication errors, and product-quality complaints submitted for approved drugs and therapeutic biologic products. This product delivers the full FAERS database as ready-to-query SQL: 18M+ adverse event records, 65M+ drug records, 54M+ MedDRA-coded reaction records, and 18M+ patient records, with 4 pre-built analytical models, all joinable in a single query.
FAERS has been retired here in favor of FDA AEMS Adverse Events, a weekly-updated dataset that unifies drug (FAERS) and device (MAUDE) events with built-in PRR signal detection. This FAERS dataset remains available as a frozen historical archive (final data May 2026).
Download FAERS Data vs Query It
The FDA publishes FAERS as quarterly data extract files (ASCII/XML) that you download and parse each quarter. For a one-off pull of a single quarter, those files are the right choice. This product exists for everything the quarterly downloads can't do:
Access
Per-quarter ASCII/XML downloads you parse yourself
SQL across every quarter at once
Schema
Raw fixed-width/XML re-parsed each release
Typed, consistent views per table
Joins
Manual stitching of events, drugs, reactions, and patients
Join every table on safety_report_id in one query
Reactions
Raw reaction codes
MedDRA Preferred Terms and Lowest Level Terms included
History
One quarter per download
All quarters in one queryable table
Dataset Structure
The FDA FAERS dataset is organized around adverse event reports, with connected tables containing detailed information about the drugs involved, patient demographics, reported reactions, and report sources.

Base Tables
drug__events (Main Events Table)
Core adverse event reports containing event-level information. Each record represents a single adverse event report identified by a unique safety_report_id.
Key Features:
Over 18 million adverse event records
Clean, standardized data ready for analysis
Complete event details including dates, countries, and seriousness criteria
Reporter organization information for source tracking
drug__events_drugs (Drug Details Table)
Drug-specific information for each adverse event. Each record represents one drug involved in an adverse event report.
Key Features:
Over 65 million drug records with detailed information
Drug characterization (Suspect, Concomitant, Interacting)
Dosage information and administration routes
Indications for use and actions taken after the event
drug__events_patients (Patient Information Table)
Patient demographic information with comprehensive data cleaning and normalization.
Key Features:
Over 18 million patient records
Standardized age data in years and FDA age group categories
Weight data normalized to kilograms
Age at onset information for temporal analysis
drug__events_reactions (Adverse Reactions Table)
Reported adverse reactions and outcomes using standardized MedDRA terminology.
Key Features:
Over 54 million reaction records
MedDRA Preferred Terms and Lowest Level Terms
Reaction outcomes (Recovered, Fatal, etc.)
Links to specific patients and drugs through sequence numbers
drug__events_report_sources (Report Sources Table)
Information about the sources of adverse event reports.
Key Features:
Reporter qualifications and credentials
Primary source country information
Report source types for quality assessment
Links to main event records
Aggregate/Reporting Models
drug__agg_drug_reaction_associations
Pre-aggregated drug-reaction associations with statistical significance measures for safety signal detection.
Use Cases:
Drug safety signal detection and monitoring
Adverse reaction frequency analysis
Comparative safety assessments across drugs
Pharmacovigilance reporting and alerts
Key Metrics:
Association strength scores between drugs and reactions
Occurrence counts and statistical significance
Serious event and death rates by drug-reaction pair
Percentage of drug reports with specific reactions
drug__agg_manufacturer_adverse_events
Manufacturer-level adverse event analytics with portfolio safety metrics and competitive benchmarks.
Use Cases:
Manufacturer safety performance benchmarking
Portfolio risk assessment across drug products
Competitive intelligence for pharmaceutical companies
Regulatory compliance monitoring
Key Metrics:
Total reports by manufacturer with YoY comparisons
Serious event and death rates by company
Number of unique drugs with adverse events
Trend analysis and growth metrics
drug__agg_demographic_risk_profiles
Demographic risk analysis segmented by patient age groups and gender for targeted safety monitoring.
Use Cases:
Identifying high-risk patient populations
Age and gender-based safety signal detection
Pediatric and geriatric drug safety monitoring
Demographic-specific risk assessment
Key Metrics:
Risk scores by demographic segments
Event counts and rates by age group and gender
Comparative risk levels across populations
Statistical significance thresholds (10+ events)
drug__agg_safety_trends
Time-series safety trends with statistical trend detection and forecasting capabilities.
Use Cases:
Safety signal trend monitoring over time
Emerging risk detection and early warnings
Seasonal pattern analysis in adverse events
Post-market surveillance and monitoring
Key Metrics:
Multiple time granularities (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly)
Moving averages and trend indicators
Serious event and death rate trends
Statistical trend direction classifications
Data Quality Improvements
Patient Information Standardization
Age Normalization
All patient ages converted to years for consistent analysis
FDA age group categories applied (Neonate, Infant, Child, Adolescent, Adult, Elderly)
Handles various reporting formats and units
Weight Standardization
All weights normalized to kilograms
Automatic unit detection and conversion
Validation for realistic weight ranges
Demographic Enhancement
Gender categories standardized (Male, Female, NULL for unknown)
Missing data clearly identified for transparency
Age at onset calculations for temporal analysis
Drug Information Enhancements
Drug Name Standardization
Medicinal product names cleaned and normalized
Brand names, generic names, and ingredients handled
Consistent formatting for analysis
Characterization Categories
Clear classification: Suspect, Concomitant, Interacting
Action taken standardization (Withdrawn, Dose reduced, etc.)
Route of administration normalization
Reaction Coding
MedDRA Standardization
Preferred Terms (PT) and Lowest Level Terms (LLT) included
Hierarchical coding system for reaction analysis
Outcome standardization for severity assessment
Getting Started
Platform Schema Reference
This dataset is available on both Snowflake and Databricks. The table names are the same, but the schema prefix differs:
Snowflake
dwv
dwv.drug__events
Databricks
fda_faers_dwv
fda_faers_dwv.drug__events
The examples below show queries for both platforms using tabs.
Basic Query Examples
Recent Adverse Events Overview
Top Adverse Reactions Analysis
Geographic Distribution Analysis
Advanced Analytics Examples
Demographic Risk Analysis
Manufacturer Safety Performance
Temporal Trend Analysis
Using Pre-Aggregated Analytics
Drug-Reaction Association Analysis
Demographic Risk Profiling
Safety Trend Monitoring
Why Choose This Dataset
Ready for Analysis: Clean, normalized data with standardized terminology
Comprehensive Coverage: Complete adverse event data with all related information connected
Pre-Built Intelligence: Aggregated analytics for immediate insights without complex queries
Statistical Significance: Built-in thresholds and association measures for reliable analysis
Performance Optimized: Denormalized keys and pre-aggregations for fast query performance
Data Update Frequency and Freshness
Deprecated and no longer updated. The schedule below describes how this dataset operated while it was active. It is now frozen (final data May 2026). For current, weekly-updated adverse-event data, use FDA AEMS.
Update Schedule
FDA Updates: FDA releases new FAERS data quarterly
Corrections & Amendments: FDA publishes corrections and amendments several times per week between quarterly releases
Our Updates: We check for new data and corrections twice daily and load them immediately when available
Typical Data Lag: Drug adverse event data is typically 3-6 months behind real-time due to FDA's quarterly release cycle
Understanding Data Timeliness
The FDA FAERS data has a significant lag due to the quarterly reporting cycle:
Adverse events are collected throughout each quarter
FDA processes and validates reports after quarter end
Data is typically released 3-4 months after the quarter closes
What This Means for You
Most recent adverse event data will be 3-6 months old
This is inherent to FDA's quarterly release schedule for ensuring data quality
Trial Access
The free trial provides a complete, joinable subset of the FDA FAERS dataset on both Snowflake and Databricks so you can evaluate the data with realistic queries before subscribing.
What's Included in the Trial
Event tables (parent-child linked):
drug__events
Full year of events (Jan 2023 - Dec 2023)
Date-filtered by receipt_date
drug__events_drugs
All drugs for trial events
FK-linked to trial events
drug__events_patients
All patients for trial events
FK-linked to trial events
drug__events_reactions
All reactions for trial events
FK-linked to trial events
Standalone tables: drug__events_report_sources and all aggregate/reporting models are available with a representative sample.
Why This Matters
Unlike a random row sample, the trial data preserves referential integrity across all tables. Every drug, patient, and reaction record in the trial corresponds to an actual event in the trial period. This means:
All JOINs return complete results - no missing child records
Multi-table queries work exactly as they would on the full dataset
Aggregate analyses over the trial period are accurate and representative
Trial Query Example
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the FAERS database? FAERS (FDA Adverse Event Reporting System) is the FDA's database of adverse event and medication error reports for approved drugs and therapeutic biologic products, submitted by manufacturers, healthcare professionals, and consumers. This product delivers it as typed, joinable SQL tables instead of quarterly extract files.
What does FAERS stand for? FDA Adverse Event Reporting System.
Is the FAERS data still updated? This FAERS dataset is frozen (final data May 2026). Ongoing drug adverse-event data continues in FDA AEMS Adverse Events, which unifies drug (FAERS) and device (MAUDE) reports in one weekly-updated dataset with built-in PRR signal detection.
How do I get FAERS quarterly data as SQL? Every FAERS quarter is already loaded as queryable tables; no downloading or parsing the FDA's quarterly extract files. Query drug__events and its child tables directly; see the examples above.
Get Started
FDA FAERS Data Access
Includes
All base tables, 4 aggregate models, quarterly updates
Support
Email support included
Cancellation
Cancel anytime, no long-term commitment
Important Data Interpretation Guidelines
Adverse event reports are voluntary submissions and may not represent all occurrences
Reports do not establish causation between drugs and adverse events
Duplicate reports may exist despite FDA's deduplication efforts
Reporting rates can be influenced by media attention, new drug launches, and other factors
Statistical associations should be validated with clinical expertise
FDA Documentation Resources
Last updated

