Drugs: Side Effects

(asked on 3rd November 2025) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many yellow card reports of increased sexual arousal (Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities code 10021679) the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency received each year since 2014, and what medications those reports were tied to.


Answered by
Baroness Merron Portrait
Baroness Merron
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
This question was answered on 18th November 2025

A total of 52 reports that describe increased sexual arousal suspected to be associated with the use of medicines or vaccines have been received through the Yellow Card scheme. The reports were received between 2014 and 2025 for a wide range of medicinal products which include antidepressants, hormonal medicines, vaccines, antipsychotics, antibiotics, cardiovascular medicines, drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, sedatives, drugs used to treat dementia and diabetes, and single reports for drugs used to treat osteoporosis, Parkinson’s disease, and pain.

The term increased sexual arousal itself is not in the product information for any of the above classes of medicines, however terms such as increased libido and hypersexuality are reflected in product information for medicines used to treat Parkinson’s disease. The following table shows a breakdown of all spontaneous Yellow Card Reports the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) received from 1 January 2014 to 4 November 2025, where the MedDRA, a categorisation of medical terminology, Lowest Level Term (LTT) ‘increased sexual arousal’ was reported:

Year

Number of reports

2014

1

2015

1

2016

6

2017

4

2018

1

2019

4

2020

6

2021

14

2022

5

2023

4

2024

1

2025

5

of

52

In addition, the following able shows a breakdown of all spontaneous Yellow Card Reports the MHRA received from 1 January 2014 to 4 November 2025 where the MedDRA LLT ‘increased sexual arousal’ was reported, broken down by substance:

Year

Substance

Number of reports

2014

TRAZODONE

1

2015

CITALOPRAM

1

PROPRANOLOL

1

2016

AMOXYCILLIN

1

ARIPIPRAZOLE

1

CLAVULANIC ACID

1

ETHINYLESTRADIOL

1

FLUPENTHIXOL

1

METRONIDAZOLE

1

NORELGESTROMIN

1

SERTRALINE

2

SOLIFENACIN

1

2017

CITALOPRAM

2

MEMANTINE

1

SERTRALINE

1

2018

SERTRALINE

1

2019

FLUOXETINE

1

LISDEXAMFETAMINE

1

METHYLPHENIDATE

1

SERTRALINE

1

2020

CANDESARTAN

1

DULOXETINE

1

ETHINYLESTRADIOL

1

LEVONORGESTREL

1

LISINOPRIL

1

RISPERIDONE

1

TERIPARATIDE

1

ULIPRISTAL

1

VENLAFAXINE

1

2021

ARIPIPRAZOLE

1

ChAdOx1 nCoV-19

2

CIPROFLOXACIN

1

CITALOPRAM

2

ESTRADIOL

1

FLUCLOXACILLIN

1

OESTRIOL

1

PAROXETINE

1

SERTRALINE

2

TOZINAMERAN

2

TRAZODONE

1

2022

ARIPIPRAZOLE

1

DONEPEZIL

1

ELASOMERAN

1

OESTRIOL

1

TOZINAMERAN

1

2023

DIAZEPAM

1

DOXYCYCLINE

1

LISDEXAMFETAMINE

1

MEMANTINE

1

2024

CLONAZEPAM

1

2025

ARIPIPRAZOLE

1

FLUOXETINE

1

LINAGLIPTIN

1

PRAMIPEXOLE

1

TIRZEPATIDE

1

Reticulating Splines