FAERS Explorer
A live interactive Streamlit dashboard over the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. Pick any drug and see its top reported reactions, reports per year, and age/sex demographics — with a built-in panel on why these counts measure attention, not harm.
Scrub the timeline of Zantac adverse-event reports per year; the post-2019 spike is driven by an FDA recall and litigation, not new harm.
A spike isn't always a safety signal.
Zantac (ranitidine) adverse-event reports per year. Drag along the timeline and watch what happens after 2019.
Report counts measure attention, not harm. The first question for any spike is "what else happened that year?"
What it does
You pick a drug and the dashboard returns:
- Its top reported adverse reactions (by report count)
- Reports filed per year
- Age and sex breakdown of reporters
There is also a built-in panel explaining what these numbers actually measure. FAERS counts are driven by who files reports, not by how often an adverse event occurs in patients. More reports for a drug does not mean the drug is more dangerous — it can mean it is more widely used, more scrutinised, or that a safety signal has already been publicised. The dashboard makes that explicit.
Why I built it
I kept reading pharmacovigilance literature that cited FAERS counts without that caveat. I wanted a tool that showed the data and the caveat together, so the interpretation is part of the interface.
Stack
Python · pandas · matplotlib · Streamlit · openFDA API