This grade answers one narrow question: how strong is the public evidence and safety record behind this drug, and how clean is its money trail and court record? It is not a verdict on whether the drug is right for you.
WARNING: LIFE-THREATENING PROARRHYTHMIA To minimize the risk of drug-induced arrhythmia, initiate or reinitiate oral sotalol in a facility that can provide cardiac resuscitation and continuous electrocardiographic monitoring. Sotalol can cause life-threatening ventricular tachycardia associated with QT interval prolongation. If the QT interval prolongs to 500 msec or greater, reduce the dose, lengthen the dosing interval, or discontinue the drug. Calculate creatinine clearance to determine appropriate dosing [see Dosage and Administration ( 2.5 )] . WARNING: LIFE THREATENING PROARRHYTHMIA See full prescribing information for complete boxed warning. Sotalol hydrochloride/ Sotalol hydrochloride AF can cause life-threatening ventricular tachycardia associated with QT interval prolongation. If the QT interval prolongs to 500 msec or greater, reduce the dose, lengthen the dosing interval, or discontinue the drug. Initiate or reinitiate in a facility that can provide cardiac resuscitation and continuous electrocardiographic monitoring. Adjust the dosing interval based on creatinine clearance.
Sotalol hydrochloride/Sotalol hydrochloride AF tablets are an antiarrhythmic indicated for: the treatment of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias ( 1.1 ) the maintenance of normal sinus rhythm in patients with atrial fibrillation or flutter (AFIB/AFL) ( 1.2 ) Limitations of Use Sotalol hydrochloride has not been shown to enhance survival in patients with life threatening ventricular arrhythmias (1.1) Avoid use in patients with minimally symptomatic or easily reversible AFIB/AFL ( 1.2 ) 1.1 Life-Threatening Ventricular Arrhythmias Sotalol hydrochloride/Sotalol hydrochloride AF tablets are indicated for the treatment of documented, life-threatening, ventricular arrhythmias, such as sustained ventricular tachycardia (VT). Limitation of Use: Sotalol hydrochloride/Sotalol hydrochloride AF has not been shown to enhance survival in patients with life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias. 1.2 Delay in Recurrence of Atrial Fibrillation/Atrial Flutter (AFIB/AFL) Sotalol hydrochloride/Sotalol hydrochloride AF tablets are indicated for the maintenance of normal sinus rhythm (delay in time to recurrence of AFIB/AFL) in patients with highly symptomatic AFIB/AFL who are currently in sinus rhyt...
Sotalol hydrochloride/Sotalol hydrochloride (AF) is contraindicated in patients with: Sinus bradycardia, sick sinus syndrome, second and third degree AV block, unless a functioning pacemaker is present Congenital or acquired long QT syndromes Cardiogenic shock or decompensated heart failure Serum potassium <4 mEq/L Bronchial asthma or related bronchospastic conditions Hypersensitivity to sotalol For the treatment of AFIB/AFL, sotalol hydrochloride/sotalol hydrochloride AF is also contraindicated in patients with: Baseline QT interval >450 msec For the treatment of AFIB/AFL or ventricular arrythmias Sinus bradycardia, 2 nd or 3 rd degree AV block, sick sinus syndrome ( 4 ) Congenital or acquired long QT syndrome ( 4 ) Serum potassium <4 mEq/L (4) Cardiogenic shock, decompensated heart failure ( 4 ) Bronchial asthma or related bronchospastic conditions ( 4 ) Hypersensitivity to sotalol ( 4 ) For the treatment of AFIB/AFL also contraindicated for: QT interval >450 msec ( 4 )
prolongation, bradycardia, AV block, hypotension, worsening heart failure: Reduce dose or discontinue ( 5.1 ) Acute exacerbation of coronary artery disease upon cessation of therapy: Do not abruptly discontinue ( 5.5 ) Correct any electrolyte disturbances ( 5.1 ) May mask symptoms of hypoglycemia or worsen hyperglycemia in diabetic patients; monitor ( 5.7 ) 5.1 QT Prolongation and Proarrhythmia Sotalol hydrochloride/Sotalol hydrochloride AF can cause serious and potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias such as sustained VT/VF, primarily Torsade de Pointes (TdP) type ventricular tachycardia, a polymorphic ventricular tachycardia associated with QT interval prolongation. Factors such as reduced creatinine clearance, female sex, higher doses, reduced heart rate and history of sustained VT/VF or heart failure increase the risk of TdP. The risk of TdP can be reduced by adjustment of the sotalol dose according to creatinine clearance and by monitoring the ECG for excessive increases in the QT interval [see Dosage and Administration ( 2.1 )] . Correct hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia prior to initiating sotalol hydrochloride/sotalol hydrochloride AF, as these conditions can exaggerate the d...
The most common adverse reactions (≥2%) for sotalol hydrochloride are: fatigue 4%, bradycardia (less than 50 bpm) 3%, dyspnea 3%, proarrhythmia 3%, asthenia 2%, and dizziness 2%. ( 6 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Apotex Corp. at 1-800-706-5575 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch . 6.1 Clinical Trials Experience Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Adverse reactions that are clearly related to sotalol are those which are typical of its Class II (beta-blocking) and Class III (cardiac action potential duration prolongation) effects and are dose related. Ventricular Arrhythmias Serious Adverse Reactions Sotalol hydrochloride/sotalol hydrochloride AF tablets can cause serious and potentially fatal ventricular arrhythmias such as sustained VT/VF, primarily Torsade de Pointes (TdP) [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] . The effect on QT and the risk of Torsade de Pointes are both dose related. Pediatric Patients In an unblinded mult...
Source: FDA SPL label for Sotalol Hydrochloride (Aphena Pharma Solutions - Tennessee, LLC), effective 20230808. Full label on DailyMed.
These are counts of reports people filed, not rates of harm. Anyone can file one, and nobody checks whether the drug was the cause. Millions of doses are taken for every report sent, so the useful part is how this drug compares with the average across all drugs.
| 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,553 | 1,356 | 1,080 | 963 | 998 | 755 | 1,175 | 439 |
2,039 reports blaming this drug for every million Medicare prescriptions filled, which is 0.7× the typical drug on this site. (2,342 reports in 2024–2026, against 1,148,328 Medicare fills in one year. This is the one number here that accounts for how many people take the drug.)
Source: the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). Reports are voluntary and unverified. Drugs that are prescribed a lot, in the news, or in lawsuits attract more reports, so the percentages are compared with the whole database to correct for that partly, not fully.
Counts measure how much evidence exists and how transparent it is, not how big the benefit is. For that, ask your prescriber: if 100 people like me took this, how many would get better because of it, and how many would be harmed? (Doctors call these the "number needed to treat" and "number needed to harm.") It differs by condition and is the number drug ads leave out. Sources: PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov.
In 2024, drug companies reported $0 in payments to US physicians and hospitals tied to this drug across 0 transactions.
No pending federal MDL names this drug or its brands.
Not named in any federal pharmaceutical settlement of $100M or more on record.
Sources: CMS Open Payments (Sunshine Act); Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation pending docket list; DOJ settlements as tabulated on Wikipedia with links to the primary record. State-court and individual suits are not included.
| Product | Fills | $/fill |
|---|---|---|
| Sotalol | 1,092,985 | $20 |
| Sotalol Af | 54,999 | $29 |
| Betapace | 197 | $2,714 |
| Betapace Af | 112 | $1,778 |
| Sotylize | 35 | $1,499 |
2 drugs in the same class grade a letter or more higher than sotalol on this site. Worth asking whether one of them would do the same job for you.
Same ATC pharmacological class, graded ones first, best grade at the top. Being in the same class does not make them interchangeable for your condition; it makes them worth asking about.