Nalidixic Acid: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Nalidixic Acid 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
- Sold as
- 2 products — Nalidixic Acid and Neggram
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
Every nalidixic acid 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 | 70/100 | Prescription | Tablet | No data | — | View → | |
| 2 | 70/100 | Prescription | Tablet | No data | — | View → |
Nalidixic Acid and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for nalidixic acid: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadLimited information indicates that maternal doses of nalidixic acid up to 2 grams daily produce low levels in milk and would usually not be expected to cause any adverse effects in breastfed infants with monitoring of the infant for possible effects on the gastrointestinal flora, such as diarrhea or candidiasis (thrush, diaper rash). Nalidixic acid should be avoided while breastfeeding a glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficient infant. Other agents are preferred, especially while nursing a newborn or preterm infant.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised July 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about nalidixic acid
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 49 reports naming nalidixic acid, and the FDA flagged 86% 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:
- pathogen resistance10 reports
- drug hypersensitivity5 reports
- sepsis5 reports
- drug resistance4 reports
- vomiting4 reports
- depressed level of consciousness3 reports
- diarrhoea3 reports
- dyspnoea3 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean nalidixic acid 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 nalidixic acid 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 nalidixic acid 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 nalidixic acid sold under?
We track 2 nalidixic acid-containing products in the U.S.: Nalidixic Acid and Neggram. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does nalidixic acid come in?
Across the brands we track, nalidixic acid is currently marketed as tablet, 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 nalidixic acid?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic nalidixic acid 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). Nalidixic Acid: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/nalidixic-acid
- MLA
- “Nalidixic Acid: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/nalidixic-acid.
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 nalidixic acid on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.