Herb & supplement monograph

Mullein Drug Interactions, Uses, Effectiveness, Safety & More

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS ·Updated July 2026

What is this page for?

First and foremost: how Mullein interacts with medications. The heart of this page is the interaction list — every drug Mullein is known to interact with, and how serious each one is.

But these pages have grown well beyond that into a full monograph — what Mullein is, what people use it for and how strong the evidence is, its safety and side effects, and answers to the questions we’re asked most — written and reviewed by the clinical staff at HelloPharmacist. It’s educational information from our licensed clinical databases, not medical advice, and we don’t sell or endorse products. Our editorial policy

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Reviewed by licensed pharmacists Sourced from Natural Medicines

On this page

Interaction report

Drugs that interact with Mullein

122 medications have a known interaction with Mullein, graded by severity. Select any drug for the full evidence-based detail.

Don’t want to scroll the list? Just ask.

Tell us the medications you take and we’ll check each one against Mullein using our pharmacist-reviewed interaction data.

AI summaries are generated from our Mullein interaction data for education only — always confirm with your pharmacist. How we use AI

2,830 drugs

Read The List Like a Pharmacist

What Severity, Likelihood & Evidence Mean

Severity — How Serious It Can Be

Major. Clinically significant; generally best avoided, or used only under direct professional supervision.
Moderate. May need monitoring, a dose adjustment, or separating the times you take each one.
Minor. Generally not clinically significant, but still worth noting and mentioning to your pharmacist.
No known interaction. Checked against our sources with nothing documented — not the same as proven safety.

Likelihood — How Well It’s Documented

Likely. Well-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction
Probable. Interaction has not been documented in well-controlled studies, however, the interaction has been demonstrated in some small human studies or in controlled animal studies in conjunction with multiple case reports.
Possible. Interaction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists
Unlikely. Interaction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.

Where This Data Comes From

Interaction records are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database (TRC Healthcare), the same reference used by pharmacists and hospitals.
Each drug listed above links to the full report for that exact Mullein combination — clinical detail, likelihood, evidence level, and citations.
Content is reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists — see our data sources and editorial standards.

The big picture

The kinds of drugs Mullein affects

Every type of medication (drug category) Mullein is known to interact with. Open any category for the detail — or search your exact drug in the checker above.

All 1 drug category Mullein interacts with

Anticoagulant/antiplatelet Drugs

Anticoagulant/Antiplatelet Drugs

Lab tests on extracts from different parts of common and dense-flowered mullein plants show that they do have some blood-thinning effects, as they increase the time it takes for blood to clot. This is likely due to at least one of the known constituents of muellein, triterpenoid saponins. However, the effects appear to be mild and results have been inconsistent. Extracts from different plant parts have been show to have varying anticoagulant strengths, with water-based ones being more potent than alcohol-based extracts.

Likelihood Unlikely Evidence A

Monograph

Mullein: Uses, Safety & Side Effects

Medically reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS · Reviewed July 2026 ·

The bottom line

Mullein is a traditional herbal remedy most often used as a tea or syrup to soothe coughs, sore throats, and respiratory irritation. High-quality human studies are lacking, so its benefits are not well proven, but it is generally considered low-risk for short-term use in healthy adults. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using it, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or have a medical condition.

Scientific name: Verbascum thapsus
Family: Scrophulariaceae
Part used: Leaves and flowers (sometimes roots)
Common forms: Tea (infusion), tincture, capsules, syrups, lozenges, and ear oil drops

People commonly use it for

Cough and chest congestion
Sore throat
Bronchitis and respiratory irritation
Earache (traditional ear oil)
Mild inflammation

Popular and traditional uses — not proof it works. See “Uses & effectiveness” below for the evidence.

Safety at a glance

OverallUse caution

Generally well tolerated for short-term use, but human safety data are limited.

PregnancyInsufficient reliable information

Insufficient reliable information available; avoid using.

Read the full pregnancy detail

BreastfeedingInsufficient reliable information

Insufficient reliable information available; avoid using.

Read the full breastfeeding detail

Pregnancy & breastfeeding ratings are from Natural Medicines (Therapeutic Research Center). Safety guidance is general; always confirm with your pharmacist or doctor for your situation.

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Overview

Mullein is a tall flowering plant with soft, fuzzy leaves and a long stalk of yellow flowers that can grow up to about 2 meters high. It grows wild across many temperate and mountain regions of Europe, Asia, and North America, often in dry, sunny areas along roadsides and fields.

People have used mullein in folk medicine for hundreds of years, mainly for breathing and throat problems. The leaves and flowers are the parts most often used. They are commonly brewed into a tea, made into syrups or tinctures, or infused into oil that is dropped into the ear for earaches.

How it works

Mullein contains several plant compounds that may explain its traditional uses. These include mucilage (a slippery, gel-like substance), saponins, flavonoids, and iridoid glycosides such as aucubin.

The mucilage is thought to coat and soothe irritated tissues in the throat and airways, which is why mullein is used for coughs and sore throats. The flavonoids and other compounds have shown possible anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial activity in laboratory studies. Keep in mind these mechanisms are mostly based on test-tube and animal research, and they have not been clearly confirmed in well-designed human trials.

Effectiveness

Does Mullein work?

Here’s what the research actually shows for each use — graded by Natural Medicines and reviewed by Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD.

Evidence overview · 10 uses evaluated

10 Insufficient evidence

How to read these evidence grades

Natural Medicines’ 7-point scale. We show each rating’s label word-for-word.

1EffectiveStrong, consistent evidence it works.

2Likely EffectiveGood evidence, though not yet conclusive.

3Possibly EffectiveSome evidence suggests a benefit.

4Possibly IneffectiveSome evidence it may not help.

5Likely IneffectiveFairly strong evidence it doesn’t help.

6IneffectiveStrong evidence it doesn’t work.

7Insufficient Reliable Evidence to RateToo little research to say either way.

For Mullein, current evidence isn’t strong enough to rate any specific use. The conditions it has been studied for are listed below.

Also studied for 10 conditions — evidence insufficient to rate

Insufficient Reliable Evidence To Rate Asthma