Calcium Chloride
Calcium chloride is an intravenous calcium supplement used to treat dangerously low calcium levels (hypocalcemia), magnesium overdose, life-threatening high potassium levels, and to support the heart during resuscitation.
🧬 Where this information comes from Click to expand
The clinical label records used on this page are FDA-filed Structured Product Labeling (SPL) retrieved through openFDA. We identified 21 clinical label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, strengths, and NDC product-record counts are built separately from matching FDA National Drug Code Directory records. The linked DailyMed document is a representative official source for verification, not the page’s only clinical source. View the linked label on DailyMed →
📖 Calcium Chloride: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Calcium Chloride — what it treats, how it works, how it’s taken, side effects, warnings and interactions. Tap any section to expand it.
🎯What it's used for▾
Calcium chloride injection is used in urgent hospital settings to restore dangerously low calcium levels and address several other serious medical emergencies. Uses vary by product formulation.
- Acute symptomatic hypocalcemia (sudden, dangerous low blood calcium) — supported by all calcium chloride injection products for adults and children.
- Hypocalcemia requiring rapid correction, including neonatal tetany (muscle spasms in newborns), low calcium from parathyroid deficiency, vitamin D deficiency, and alkalosis — Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10%.
- Prevention of low calcium during exchange transfusions — Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10%.
- Magnesium sulfate overdose — Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10%.
- Severe high potassium (hyperkalemia) causing dangerous changes in heart rhythm — Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10%.
- Cardiac resuscitation when the heart's contractions are weak or ineffective, including after open-heart surgery when epinephrine has not worked — Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10%.
- Adjunctive (supportive) therapy for acute lead colic symptoms — Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10%.
⚙️How it works▾
When calcium chloride is injected into a vein, it separates into ionized calcium — the active, usable form — directly in the bloodstream. This immediately raises the calcium concentration in the blood. Calcium is essential for muscles to contract (including the heart muscle), for nerves to send signals properly, and for maintaining stable heart rhythms. By rapidly restoring ionized calcium to a safe level, the injection can quickly reverse symptoms like muscle spasms, dangerous heart rhythm changes, or the effects of magnesium or potassium imbalances.
💊How it's taken▾
Calcium chloride injection is always given by a healthcare professional through a vein (intravenously) — slowly and into a large, central or deep vein. Some formulations of Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10% may also be given directly into a heart chamber (intraventricularly) during cardiac resuscitation. The infusion must never exceed 1 mL per minute.
- Repeat doses may be needed because the body excretes calcium quickly.
- For patients with kidney disease, the lowest appropriate dose is used and calcium levels are checked frequently.
- Your care team will set the dose and schedule based on your blood calcium levels and the condition being treated — do not adjust on your own.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most commonly reported effects with calcium chloride injection include:
- Tingling or pins-and-needles (especially if given too fast)
- Metallic or calcium taste in the mouth
- Feeling of heat or flushing
- Sense of pressure or tightness
- Burning at the injection site
- Low blood pressure
- Widening of blood vessels (vasodilation)
- Redness or leakage at the IV site
More serious reactions — including very slow heart rate, fainting, cardiac arrest, severe tissue damage at the injection site, or signs of too much calcium (confusion, vomiting, muscle weakness, seizures) — require immediate medical attention.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Too fast = dangerous: Infusing too quickly can cause low blood pressure, very slow heart rate (bradycardia), abnormal heart rhythms, fainting, or cardiac arrest. The rate must never exceed 1 mL per minute.
- Tissue and skin damage: If calcium leaks out of the vein (extravasation), it can cause severe tissue death, ulceration, and calcium deposits in the skin (calcinosis cutis). Never inject into muscle or under the skin. Stop the infusion immediately if leakage is suspected.
- Digoxin interaction: Using calcium chloride with digoxin can cause life-threatening heart rhythm problems. Avoid this combination; if it cannot be avoided, heart rhythm must be monitored continuously.
- Ceftriaxone in newborns: Calcium chloride is contraindicated in newborns (up to 28 days old) who need the antibiotic ceftriaxone — fatal calcium-drug crystal deposits in the lungs and kidneys have occurred.
- Aluminum toxicity: This product contains aluminum. In patients with kidney problems — especially premature newborns — aluminum can build up and damage the nervous system and bones with prolonged use.
- Not for long-term use: The safety of calcium chloride injection for extended use has not been established.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Calcium chloride injection can interact with several medications — always inform your care team of everything you take:
- Digoxin: The combination raises the risk of dangerous heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias). Avoid unless absolutely necessary, with continuous heart monitoring.
- Calcium channel blockers (e.g., amlodipine, verapamil, diltiazem): Calcium chloride can reduce how well these blood pressure medications work. Avoid combining; monitor blood pressure closely if used together.
- Ceftriaxone (antibiotic): Never mix or infuse at the same time — can form harmful crystal deposits inside blood vessels and organs.
- Drugs that raise calcium levels — including thiazide diuretics, vitamin D, vitamin A, lithium, estrogen, parathyroid hormone, teriparatide, and calcipotriene — can combine with calcium chloride to cause hypercalcemia (dangerously high calcium). More frequent monitoring is needed.
This is not a complete list of interactions. Always talk with your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping, or changing any medication.
📋Before taking it▾
- Ventricular fibrillation or asystole with electromechanical dissociation: Calcium chloride injection is contraindicated in these heart conditions.
- Newborns needing ceftriaxone: Absolutely contraindicated — fatal reactions have occurred.
- Kidney disease: Use the lowest appropriate dose; calcium and phosphorus levels must be monitored frequently because calcium-phosphorus imbalance is a real risk.
- Premature (preterm) infants: At higher risk of aluminum toxicity due to immature kidneys; use with special caution.
- Taking digoxin or calcium channel blockers: Tell your care team — the interaction risk is serious.
- Pregnancy: Treatment for low calcium during pregnancy is not expected to cause birth defects. Untreated low calcium in pregnancy carries its own risks (premature labor, preeclampsia, effects on the baby). Your care team will weigh the benefits and risks.
- Breastfeeding: At recommended doses, treatment is not expected to harm a breastfed infant. Discuss with your provider.
- Older adults (65+): Limited data exist — your team will monitor you carefully.
🚑If you take too much▾
Too much calcium chloride can lead to hypercalcemia (too much calcium in the blood). Signs include nausea, vomiting, constipation, muscle weakness, bone pain, confusion, hallucinations, irregular heartbeat, seizures, and coma — these typically appear when blood calcium rises above 12 mg/dL. If overdose is suspected, the infusion is stopped immediately and your care team will evaluate and treat as needed.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Intravenous calcium chloride rapidly raises the level of ionized calcium in the blood — the biologically active form that the body uses right away. This corrects the effects of low calcium on muscles, nerves, and the heart. The full details of exactly how the dose relates to the effect over time have not been completely mapped out in clinical studies.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
Calcium chloride injection is 100% absorbed into the bloodstream when given intravenously — none is lost in digestion. In the body, 99% of all calcium is stored in the skeleton; the remaining 1% circulates in blood and soft tissues. Of the calcium in blood, about half is in the active ionized form, about 40% is bound to the protein albumin, and 8–10% is bound to acids. Calcium is not broken down (metabolized) by the body. It is removed through the kidneys — a measurable rise in urinary calcium is seen during and after an infusion.
📦How to store it▾
Store at 20°C to 25°C (68°F to 77°F); excursions permitted between 15°C and 30°C (59°F and 86°F).
📄 Written from Calcium Chloride’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Every point is grounded in that labeling — nothing is invented. How we use AI →
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Calcium Chloride — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
Why am I getting calcium chloride through an IV instead of just taking a calcium pill? ▾
What will I feel during the infusion? ▾
Is it safe if I'm also taking digoxin for my heart? ▾
Can too much calcium chloride be harmful? ▾
Is this safe during pregnancy or while breastfeeding? ▾
Why does my nurse say the IV needs to go into a large, deep vein? ▾
Is Calcium Chloride available over the counter? ▾
When was Calcium Chloride first available? ▾
Who makes Calcium Chloride? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Calcium Chloride’s FDA-approved label information, summarized in plain language with AI, and reviewed by our pharmacy team before publication. Grounded in that labeling — nothing is made up. How we use AI →
🧰 Keep exploring
💊 How Calcium Chloride comes
Calcium Chloride is available in 2 forms. Different forms and brands can have different approved uses, doses, schedules, and directions. Follow the instructions for your exact product, and do not switch forms without guidance from your prescriber or pharmacist.
Injection
How this form is used
- calcium chloride and Calcium Chloride Dihydrate injections are used intravenously to treat acute symptomatic hypocalcemia (dangerously low blood calcium) in adults and children.
- Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10% is used intravenously to treat magnesium sulfate overdose.
- Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10% is used intravenously or into the ventricular cavity (intraventricularly) during cardiac resuscitation when heart contractions are too weak.
- Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10% is used intravenously to protect the heart during severe high potassium levels (hyperkalemia) affecting heart rhythm.
- calcium chloride and Calcium Chloride Dihydrate injections must be given slowly by intravenous infusion into a central or deep vein — never by rapid bolus, and never into muscle or under the skin.
- Calcium Chloride Injection, USP 10% may be given into the ventricular cavity (heart chamber) during cardiac resuscitation — it must never be injected directly into the heart muscle.
- Stop the infusion immediately if the patient reports any discomfort; it may be restarted once symptoms pass.
- Do not mix or give calcium chloride injection at the same time as ceftriaxone — dangerous crystal deposits can form in the body.
Other oral form
📊 Calcium Chloride across the U.S. market
How Calcium Chloride appears in the FDA’s National Drug Code Directory — including its dosage forms, strengths, brand names, manufacturers, and FDA-listed product records. These are directory records, not sales or prescription volume.
FDA-listed product records by dose form (tablet variants merged) — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
Also listed with the FDA, not a patient dose form: Crystal (9) · Powder (3) — bulk drug substance sold to compounders/manufacturers and multi-item kits. These aren’t counted in the dose-form total above.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Calcium Chloride is used
A general measure of how commonly Calcium Chloride is prescribed, based on Medicaid — one of the largest public drug programs. The figure below is prescriptions filled in Q1–Q4 2025, summed across every form and brand of the drug.
Think of this as a proxy for how widely Calcium Chloride is used, drawn from freely available public data. Medicaid is just one program — these numbers don’t include Medicare, other government coverage, or commercial and cash-pay prescriptions, so real-world use is higher than what’s shown here.
How commonly is Calcium Chloride prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Calcium Chloride ranks #1,326 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 17% of them.
Utilization by Calcium Chloride product
Pick a product to see its own Medicaid numbers. Each chip is one clinical product — a specific strength & dosage form as defined by RxNorm — with brand-name and generic versions combined.
10 ML calcium chloride 100 MG/ML Prefilled Syringe Most dispensed
Summed across the 2 of 23 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 828527
10 ML calcium chloride 100 MG/ML Injection
Summed across the 1 of 14 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 828525
Shares are of the Medicaid prescriptions shown here. Product grouping follows RxNorm (the National Library of Medicine’s drug terminology), so “one product” means one strength & dosage form regardless of manufacturer. Dollar figures are gross Medicaid reimbursement before mandatory rebates — rebates (often large, especially for brand-name drugs) are confidential, so actual net cost to Medicaid is lower than shown.
Source: Medicaid State Drug Utilization Data (CMS), aggregated by generic ingredient — summed across every NDC (all brands, strengths, salt forms and dosage forms) of Calcium Chloride, and across all states and both fee-for-service and managed-care claims. A general popularity signal; it excludes Medicare, commercial insurance and cash prescriptions, so it is not total U.S. use. Based on the 3 of 37 listed Calcium Chloride NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Calcium Chloride products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Calcium Chloride — across manufacturers, strengths, and dosage forms, grouped by form with each product’s manufacturer and how the FDA approved it. The same medicine may be made and packaged by different companies, so a single drug can have many directory entries. (It’s also why a refill can look different — a new shape, color, or box — even though it contains the same medication.)
| Strength | Route | Manufacturer / Labeler | Category ⓘ | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Injection | ||||
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | American Regent, Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Civica, Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Eskayef Pharmaceuticals Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | General Injectables & Vaccines, Inc | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Henry Schein, Inc. × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous, Intraventricular | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous; Intraventricular | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous, Intraventricular | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst | UNAPPROVED DRUG OTHER | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous; Intraventricular | HF Acquisition Co LLC, DBA HealthFirst × 2 listings | UNAPPROVED DRUG OTHER | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Hospira, Inc. × 3 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous; Intraventricular | Hospira, Inc. × 2 listings | UNAPPROVED DRUG OTHER | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous, Intraventricular | International Medication Systems, Limited | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous; Intraventricular | International Medication Systems, Limited × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Medefil, Inc. × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous, Intraventricular | Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC | UNAPPROVED DRUG OTHER | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous; Intraventricular | Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC | UNAPPROVED DRUG OTHER | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Medical Purchasing Solutions, LLC × 2 listings | NDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | PAI Holdings, LLC dba PAI Pharma | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous, Intraventricular | ProPharma Distribution | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous, Intraventricular | Remedyrepack Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Remedyrepack Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.04 mmol/mL | — | Siegfried Hameln GmbH × 3 listings | DRUG FOR FURTHER PROCESSING | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Somerset Therapeutics, LLC | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg/mL | Intravenous | Square Pharmaceuticals Plc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Other oral form | ||||
| 30 [hp_C] | Oral | Washington Homeopathic Products | UNAPPROVED HOMEOPATHIC | View NDC → |
| 💊Bulk drug substance | ||||
| 1 kg/kg | — | Avantor Performance Materials International, LLC | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 g/g | — | Letco Medical, Llc | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Macco Organiques, S.R.O. × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 100 kg/100 kg | — | Macco Organiques, S.R.O. | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Merck KGaA × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 25 kg/25 kg | — | Merck KGaA × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 100 kg/100 kg | — | Professional Compounding Centers of America | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Spectrum Laboratory Products, Inc. | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Willow Birch Pharma, LLC. | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
Showing 61 of 61 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 61 Calcium Chloride NDCs →
📈 What people report — real-world data (FDA FAERS)
After a medicine reaches the market, patients, doctors and drugmakers can send the FDA reports of problems they think may be linked to it. Here’s what’s been reported for Calcium Chloride — a signal of what to watch for, not proof the drug caused it.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). These are voluntary reports — they don’t prove the drug caused the effect, and counts reflect how often something was reported, not how often it actually happens. Reports also often name the very problem the medicine is taken for — a common reason to file one is that the drug didn’t help — so for a pain reliever you may see “pain” high on the list; that points to why the report was filed, not to the drug causing the symptom. This counts every report that lists Calcium Chloride in any role, so the total runs higher than the FDA’s official dashboard, which counts only cases where the drug is the suspect. For the authoritative figures, see the FDA FAERS Public Dashboard. Always talk to your pharmacist or doctor.
🏛️ The road to your pharmacy
How Calcium Chloride went from FDA review to the pharmacy shelf — the key milestones in its regulatory journey.
Source: Drugs@FDA.
🚨 Recall history
A recall is when a specific batch of a medicine is pulled from the market — usually a manufacturing issue, not a problem with the drug itself. Class I is most serious, Class III least.
Source: openFDA drug enforcement (recall) reports.
RxNorm Concept Web — From Ingredient to Every Form and Strength
This page starts with one ingredient concept (IN). The branches below show its dose-form concepts (SCDF), then the available clinical drug and strength concepts (SCD). Combination products remain separate concepts with their own pages.
RxCUI 1901 2 dose forms · 2 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Injection RxCUI 1867735In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 10 ML calcium chloride 100 MG/MLRxCUI 828525 -
Dose form (SCDF) Prefilled Syringe RxCUI 727846No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 10 ML calcium chloride 100 MG/MLRxCUI 828527
Look up RxCUI 1901 in the RxCUI Atlas →
RxNorm is the U.S. National Library of Medicine’s normalized drug vocabulary. Its concept hierarchy can include forms that are not currently marketed; the status on each branch compares that concept with current FDA listings. RxCUIs identify vocabulary concepts, not individual packages or manufacturers.
📦 Supply & shortage status
Whether Calcium Chloride is in short supply in the U.S. right now, plus any shortage history the FDA has on record. A shortage usually reflects a manufacturing or demand issue — not a safety problem with the drug.
Source: openFDA, from the FDA Drug Shortages database.
🏷️ Sold under these brand names
🏭 Manufacturers & labelers
…and 2 more on the FDA NDC directory.
RxNorm drug class
Calcium Chloride belongs to the Calcium class.
Classified by RxNorm RxClass — the U.S. National Library of Medicine's standardized drug-classification service (Established Pharmacologic Class from the FDA, the ATC drug family from the WHO, and mechanism of action). Reference only, not medical advice.
🔬 Where this comes from
Core label, product, RxNorm, safety, and utilization data on this page come from the sources identified below. AI-written, editorial, and licensed sections are labeled separately.
How we combine label and product data
HelloPharmacist combines public FDA and NLM records; we don’t author the underlying clinical facts. We identified 21 FDA-filed SPL label sets within the page’s selected clinical scope after exact ingredient or ingredient-combination matching and applicable route/form matching. The representative label is the starting point for the displayed reference monograph; the 12 largest stored in-scope SPL records, which may include that representative, are compared section by section, and the longest available version of each section is retained. Forms, routes, brands, labelers, product-listed strengths, and product-record counts are aggregated separately from ingredient-matched FDA NDC Directory records; package records listed above are associated with the linked SPL; and the normalized concept hierarchy comes from NLM RxNorm.
For canonical ingredient pages, bounded product-attributed indication and administration excerpts may be added to the AI evidence, and the generator is instructed to preserve available product, brand, route, and form qualifiers instead of treating one label as universal. Where a section is identified as AI-written, its plain-language text is generated from bounded label evidence. New draft drug pages remain in the admin review queue before first publication. International Medication Systems, Limited is the representative DailyMed label linked for verification and dates; it is not the sole source used for the page.
This is general education, not medical advice — always consult your doctor or pharmacist about your medications and any medical condition. For the exact wording of the linked representative label, view that label on DailyMed; some displayed composite sections may come from other in-scope SPL labels. Learn how we use AI and our data sources & update cadence.