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.
Torsemide is a loop diuretic indicated for: the treatment of edema associated with heart failure, renal disease or hepatic disease. ( 1.1 ) the treatment of hypertension, to lower blood pressure. Lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events, primarily strokes and myocardial infarctions. ( 1.2 ) 1.1 Edema Torsemide tablets are indicated for the treatment of edema associated with heart failure, renal disease or hepatic disease. 1.2 Hypertension Torsemide tablets are indicated for the treatment of hypertension, to lower blood pressure. Lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events, primarily strokes and myocardial infarctions. These benefits have been seen in controlled trials of antihypertensive drugs from a wide variety of pharmacologic classes including the class to which this drug principally belongs. There are no controlled trials demonstrating risk reduction with torsemide. Control of high blood pressure should be part of comprehensive cardiovascular risk management, including, as appropriate, lipid control, diabetes management, antithrombotic therapy, smoking cessation, exercise, and limited sodium i...
Torsemide is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to torsemide or to povidone. Torsemide is contraindicated in patients who are anuric. Torsemide is contraindicated in patients with hepatic coma. Hypersensitivity to torsemide or povidone, anuria, and hepatic coma. ( 4 )
Hypotension and worsening renal function: monitor volume status and renal function periodically ( 5.1 ) Electrolyte and metabolic abnormalities: monitor serum electrolytes and blood glucose periodically. ( 5.2 ) Ototoxicity ( 5.3 , 7.6 ) 5.1 Hypotension and Worsening Renal Function Excessive diuresis may cause potentially symptomatic dehydration, blood volume reduction and hypotension and worsening renal function, including acute renal failure particularly in salt-depleted patients or those taking renin-angiotensin aldosterone inhibitors. Worsening of renal function can also occur with concomitant use of nephrotoxic drugs (e.g., aminoglycosides, cisplatin, and NSAIDs). Monitor volume status and renal function periodically. 5.2 Electrolyte and Metabolic Abnormalities Torsemide can cause potentially symptomatic hypokalemia, hyponatremia, hypomagnesemia, hypocalcemia, and hypochloremic alkalosis. Treatment with torsemide can cause an increase in blood glucose levels and hyperglycemia. Asymptomatic hyperuricemia can occur and gout may rarely be precipitated. Monitor serum electrolytes and blood glucose periodically. 5.3 Ototoxicity Tinnitus and hearing loss (usually reversible) have be...
The following risks are discussed in more detail in others sections: Hypotension and Worsening Renal Function [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Electrolyte and Metabolic Abnormalities [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Ototoxicity [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] The most common adverse reaction is excessive urination (6.7%). ( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Avet Pharmaceuticals Inc. at 1-866-901-DRUG (3784) 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. In pre-approval studies, torsemide has been evaluated for safety in approximately 4,000 subjects; over 800 of these subjects received torsemide for at least 6 months, and over 380 were treated for more than 1 year. Among these subjects were 564 who received torsemide during United States-based trials in which 274 other subjects received placebo. Discontinuation of therapy due to adverse reactions occurred ...
Source: FDA SPL label for Torsemide (Heritage Pharmaceuticals Inc. d/b/a Avet Pharmaceuticals Inc.), effective 20230630. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4,873 | 5,640 | 4,842 | 4,381 | 3,086 | 3,637 | 3,716 | 1,663 |
2,944 reports blaming this drug for every million Medicare prescriptions filled, which is 1.1× the typical drug on this site. (8,864 reports in 2024–2026, against 3,010,513 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Torsemide | 2,998,501 | $18 |
| Soaanz | 12,012 | $429 |
1 drug in the same class grades a letter or more higher than torsemide 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.