Diethylstilbestrol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Diethylstilbestrol is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Tablet · Tablet, delayed release
- Sold as
- 2 products — Stilbetin and Diethylstilbestrol
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
Every diethylstilbestrol product we track (2)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72/100 | Prescription | Tablet | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Tablet | No data | — | View → |
What people report to the FDA about diethylstilbestrol
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 177 reports naming diethylstilbestrol, and the FDA flagged 93% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- nausea20 reports
- fatigue12 reports
- agitation11 reports
- insomnia11 reports
- myalgia11 reports
- prostate cancer10 reports
- malignant neoplasm progression8 reports
- pancreatitis8 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean diethylstilbestrol caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved July 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take diethylstilbestrol with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run diethylstilbestrol against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is diethylstilbestrol sold under?
We track 2 diethylstilbestrol-containing products in the U.S.: Stilbetin and Diethylstilbestrol. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does diethylstilbestrol come in?
Across the brands we track, diethylstilbestrol is currently marketed as tablet and tablet, delayed release, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic diethylstilbestrol?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic diethylstilbestrol product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Diethylstilbestrol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/diethylstilbestrol
- MLA
- “Diethylstilbestrol: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/diethylstilbestrol.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for diethylstilbestrol on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.