Propylthiouracil: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Propylthiouracil 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
- Tablet
- Sold as
- Propylthiouracil
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $8 for a 30-count supply — not your price
Every propylthiouracil 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: Propylthiouracil.
What propylthiouracil 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 propylthiouracil keeps
No propylthiouracil label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does propylthiouracil expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsPropylthiouracil and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for propylthiouracil: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadPropylthiouracil (PTU) had been considered the antithyroid drug of choice during lactation; however, findings that the rates of liver injury higher with PTU than with methimazole has altered this judgement. Some experts now recommend that methimazole should be considered the antithyroid drug of choice in nursing mothers. No cases of PTU-induced liver damage have been reported in breastfed infants, and it is unknown if the small amounts of the drug in breastmilk can cause liver damage. The drug or breastfeeding should be discontinued if liver toxicity is suspected. Dosages of PTU should be limited to 750 mg, but preferably 450 mg, daily during breastfeeding.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised June 15, 2026. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about propylthiouracil
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 2,188 reports naming propylthiouracil, and the FDA flagged 87% 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:
- hyperthyroidism140 reports
- foetal exposure during pregnancy133 reports
- anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibody positive vasculitis94 reports
- nausea92 reports
- exposure during pregnancy86 reports
- maternal exposure during pregnancy78 reports
- agranulocytosis76 reports
- hypotension71 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean propylthiouracil 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 26, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
Can you take propylthiouracil 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 propylthiouracil 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 propylthiouracil come in?
Across the brands we track, propylthiouracil 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 propylthiouracil?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic propylthiouracil 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). Propylthiouracil: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/propylthiouracil
- MLA
- “Propylthiouracil: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/propylthiouracil.
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 propylthiouracil on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.