Can Inactive Ingredients Cause Side Effects?

Drug Side Effects Can Come From Inactive Ingredients : Shots - Health News Drugmakers add inactive ingredients to stabilize medications and sometimes to help the body absorb the active ingredients. But the inactive constituents can cause side effects in rare cases.

Can inactive ingredients harm you?

Inactive ingredients can cause allergic reactions like hives, difficulty breathing or gastrointestinal symptoms, Traverso said. It is not clear how much of an ingredient triggers a reaction.

How do inactive ingredients influence a drug?

Inactive ingredients are components of a drug product that do not increase or affect the therapeutic action of the active ingredient, which is usually the active drug. Inactive ingredients are added during the manufacturing process of pharmaceutical products such as tablets, capsules, suppositories, and injections.