Penicillin V: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Penicillin V is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Available as
- Powder · Tablet
- Sold as
- Penicillin V Potassium
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
Every penicillin v product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Penicillin V Potassium.
What penicillin v pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
How long penicillin v keeps
The date on a sealed pack is not the only one: some penicillin v labels start a second clock once the product is opened or mixed, as short as 14 days.
Does penicillin v expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsPenicillin V and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for penicillin v: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadLimited information indicates that penicillin V produces low levels in milk that are not expected to cause adverse effects in breastfed infants. Occasionally disruption of the infant's gastrointestinal flora, resulting in diarrhea or thrush have been reported with penicillins, but these effects have not been adequately evaluated. Penicillin V is acceptable in nursing mothers.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised February 15, 2021. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about penicillin v
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 2,722 reports naming penicillin v, and the FDA flagged 53% 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:
- drug hypersensitivity565 reports
- dyspnoea219 reports
- hypersensitivity196 reports
- anxiety180 reports
- asthma146 reports
- rash146 reports
- fatigue141 reports
- pain in extremity125 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean penicillin v 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 penicillin v 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 penicillin v against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What forms does penicillin v come in?
Across the brands we track, penicillin v is currently marketed as powder and 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 penicillin v?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic penicillin v 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). Penicillin V: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/penicillin-v
- MLA
- “Penicillin V: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/penicillin-v.
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 penicillin v on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.