Flurbiprofen
Flurbiprofen is an NSAID (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug) used in tablet form to treat rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, and as eye drops to prevent the pupil from narrowing during eye surgery.
🧬 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 5 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 →
⚠️ FDA Boxed Warning — the FDA’s strongest safety alert ▾
Flurbiprofen tablets carry a serious FDA boxed warning about two life-threatening risks.
Heart attack and stroke: NSAIDs like flurbiprofen increase the chance of a serious — sometimes fatal — heart attack or stroke. This risk can appear even early in treatment and may grow with longer use or higher doses. Flurbiprofen tablets must NOT be used around the time of coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) heart surgery.
Stomach and intestinal bleeding: Flurbiprofen can cause bleeding, ulcers, or holes in the stomach or intestines at any time during treatment — often with no warning signs. These can be fatal. Older adults and people with a previous history of ulcers or GI bleeding are at the highest risk. Seek immediate medical attention if you notice bloody or black stools, or vomit that looks like blood or coffee grounds.
📖 Flurbiprofen: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Flurbiprofen — 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▾
Flurbiprofen is available as oral tablets and as ophthalmic (eye) drops — each approved for different uses.
- Flurbiprofen tablets (Flurbiprofen, Lurbiro) — relieve the pain, swelling, and stiffness of rheumatoid arthritis
- Flurbiprofen tablets (Flurbiprofen, Lurbiro) — relieve the pain, swelling, and stiffness of osteoarthritis
- Flurbiprofen Sodium eye drops — prevent the pupil from narrowing (intraoperative miosis) during eye surgery; this use applies only to the ophthalmic solution
⚙️How it works▾
Flurbiprofen blocks two enzymes — COX-1 and COX-2 — that the body uses to produce prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are chemical messengers that sensitize pain nerves, promote inflammation, and cause fever. By reducing prostaglandin levels in tissues, flurbiprofen relieves joint pain and swelling in conditions like arthritis. In the eye, reduced prostaglandins help keep the pupil from constricting during surgery.
💊How it's taken▾
Flurbiprofen tablets are taken by mouth, split across two, three, or four doses throughout the day — follow your prescriber's specific schedule. You can take them with food or antacids; this may slightly affect how fast they're absorbed but not how much you get overall. Flurbiprofen Sodium eye drops are administered in a clinical or surgical setting before eye surgery — they are not a take-home medication. Always use the lowest dose that controls your symptoms, for the shortest time possible, and never take more than your prescriber recommends.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common side effects with flurbiprofen tablets include:
- Stomach pain, heartburn, or indigestion
- Nausea, diarrhea, or constipation
- Headache
- Swelling (fluid retention/edema)
- Dizziness or vision changes
- Signs of a urinary tract infection
- Rash
More serious reactions — including stomach bleeding, liver or kidney problems, severe skin reactions, and heart events — are less common but require immediate medical attention if they occur.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Heart attack and stroke: Flurbiprofen raises the risk of serious, sometimes fatal, cardiovascular events. The risk can begin early and grows with longer use. It is highest in people with existing heart disease. Flurbiprofen tablets are not to be used around CABG (heart bypass) surgery.
- Stomach and intestinal bleeding: Serious GI bleeding, ulcers, or perforation can happen at any time — often without warning. Older adults and those with a history of ulcers or GI bleeding face the highest risk.
- Kidney and liver harm: Long-term use can damage the kidneys, especially in people who are older, dehydrated, or have existing kidney or liver problems. Rare but severe liver injury has also been reported.
- High blood pressure and heart failure: Flurbiprofen can raise blood pressure and may worsen heart failure or fluid retention.
- Severe allergic or skin reactions: Stop immediately and seek emergency care if you develop hives, difficulty breathing, or blistering/peeling skin.
- Pregnancy risks: Avoid flurbiprofen from about 30 weeks of pregnancy onward. Between 20–30 weeks, use only if necessary and at the lowest dose for the shortest time.
🔀What it interacts with▾
Flurbiprofen can interact with several common medications — tell your prescriber and pharmacist everything you take:
- Blood thinners (e.g., warfarin): Increases bleeding risk significantly
- Aspirin (pain-relieving doses): Combined use raises GI bleeding risk; not generally recommended together
- Antidepressants (SSRIs/SNRIs): May further increase bleeding risk when combined with flurbiprofen
- Blood pressure medications (ACE inhibitors, ARBs, beta-blockers): Flurbiprofen can reduce their effectiveness and may harm kidneys in vulnerable patients
- Diuretics (water pills): Flurbiprofen may reduce how well they lower blood pressure or remove fluid
- Digoxin: Flurbiprofen can raise digoxin blood levels, increasing the chance of digoxin toxicity
- Lithium: Flurbiprofen can raise lithium levels in the blood, increasing toxicity risk
- Methotrexate or cyclosporine: Flurbiprofen may amplify the toxic effects of these drugs
- Other NSAIDs or salicylates: Taking more than one NSAID at a time raises GI toxicity with no added benefit
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▾
- Tell your doctor if you have — or have had — heart disease, a heart attack, or stroke; flurbiprofen increases cardiovascular risk
- Tell your doctor about any history of stomach ulcers or GI bleeding
- Do not take flurbiprofen tablets if you are allergic to flurbiprofen, aspirin, or any other NSAID
- Do not take if you have aspirin-sensitive asthma (asthma that flares with aspirin or NSAIDs)
- Flurbiprofen tablets are contraindicated (must not be used) around the time of CABG heart surgery
- If you are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, discuss with your doctor — especially avoid from 30 weeks onward
- If you are breastfeeding, flurbiprofen passes into breast milk in small amounts; discuss with your doctor
- Older adults have a higher risk of serious GI, cardiovascular, and kidney side effects and need closer monitoring
- Safety and effectiveness in children have not been established
- If you have moderate-to-severe kidney or liver disease, discuss carefully with your doctor — dose adjustments or avoidance may be needed
- If you are trying to conceive, NSAIDs including flurbiprofen may temporarily delay ovulation; talk to your doctor
🚑If you take too much▾
Taking too much flurbiprofen most commonly causes drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain — these are generally treatable with supportive care. In rare cases, serious effects like high blood pressure, kidney failure, or breathing problems can occur. If you suspect an overdose, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 or go to the nearest emergency room immediately.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Flurbiprofen has anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving (analgesic), and fever-reducing (antipyretic) effects. It works by powerfully inhibiting prostaglandin production in body tissues. Prostaglandins are key drivers of pain signaling and inflammation, so reducing them leads to measurable decreases in joint pain and swelling. In the eye, this same mechanism prevents prostaglandin-driven constriction of the pupil during surgery.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
Flurbiprofen tablets are rapidly and well absorbed when taken by mouth — nearly all of the dose reaches the bloodstream, with peak levels occurring around 2 hours after a dose. Food or antacids may slightly delay absorption but don't reduce the total amount absorbed. The drug is processed mainly by the liver (using the CYP2C9 enzyme), and roughly 70% of the dose leaves the body through the urine as flurbiprofen and its breakdown products. The drug's half-life (how long it takes for half to clear) is roughly 4–6 hours, meaning it leaves the body relatively efficiently without significant buildup with regular dosing.
📦How to store it▾
Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F) . Dispense in a tight, light-resistant container as defined in the USP, with a child-resistant closure (as required).
📄 Written from Flurbiprofen’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 →
Supplements & herbs that interact with Flurbiprofen
118 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Flurbiprofen in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 5
- Moderate · 83
- Minor · 30
Educational information from a licensed clinical database (Natural Medicines) — see our data sources & update cadence. Not medical advice: an interaction being documented does not mean it will happen to you; do not start or stop medications or supplements without professional guidance.
🩺 Pharmacist Counseling Corner
Quick, plain-English answers to the questions patients ask most about Flurbiprofen — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
What exactly does flurbiprofen treat? ▾
Is it safe to take flurbiprofen with my other medications? ▾
What side effects should I actually watch out for? ▾
Can I take flurbiprofen if I'm pregnant or trying to get pregnant? ▾
I have a sensitive stomach — should I be worried about taking this? ▾
Does flurbiprofen protect against heart attacks the way aspirin does? ▾
Is Flurbiprofen available over the counter? ▾
When was Flurbiprofen first available? ▾
Who makes Flurbiprofen? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Flurbiprofen’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 Flurbiprofen comes
Flurbiprofen 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.
Tablet
How this form is used
- Flurbiprofen tablets are used to relieve signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
- Flurbiprofen tablets are used to relieve signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis
- Lurbiro tablets are used to relieve signs and symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
- Lurbiro tablets are used to relieve signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis
- Flurbiprofen and Lurbiro tablets are taken by mouth, divided into two, three, or four doses per day
- Use the lowest effective dose for the shortest duration that meets your treatment goals
- Food or antacids may change how quickly the tablet is absorbed, but not the total amount absorbed — taking with food is acceptable
- Your prescriber may adjust your dose and frequency based on how you respond to initial treatment
Eye drops
How this form is used
- Flurbiprofen Sodium eye drops are used during eye surgery to prevent the pupil from constricting (getting smaller) during the procedure
- Flurbiprofen Sodium eye drops: a total of four drops are instilled into the eye — one drop approximately every 30 minutes, starting 2 hours before surgery
- Flurbiprofen Sodium eye drops are administered by a healthcare provider in a surgical setting and are not for routine home use
📊 Flurbiprofen across the U.S. market
How Flurbiprofen 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: Powder (15) — 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 Flurbiprofen is used
A general measure of how commonly Flurbiprofen 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 Flurbiprofen 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 Flurbiprofen prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Flurbiprofen ranks #1,119 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 30% of them.
Utilization by Flurbiprofen 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.
flurbiprofen 100 MG Oral Tablet Most dispensed
Summed across the 2 of 24 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 197724
flurbiprofen sodium 0.3 MG/ML Ophthalmic Solution
Summed across the 1 of 5 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity — every brand and generic of this exact strength & form. RxNorm 1243585
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 Flurbiprofen, 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 29 listed Flurbiprofen NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Flurbiprofen products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Flurbiprofen — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Eye drops | ||||
| 0.3 mg/mL | Ophthalmic | A-S Medication Solutions × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.3 mg/mL | Ophthalmic | Amici Pharma, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.3 mg/mL | Ophthalmic | Amici Pharmaceuticals Llc × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.3 mg/mL | Ophthalmic | Bausch & Lomb Incorporated × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.3 mg/mL | Ophthalmic | Proficient Rx LP | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Tablet | ||||
| 100 mg | Oral | Bryant Ranch Prepack × 4 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg | Oral | Genus Lifesciences | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 50 kg/50 kg | — | Hy-gro Chemicals Pharmtek Pvt Ltd | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 100 mg | Oral | IPG Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg | Oral | medsource pharmaceuticals | ANDA | Find on DailyMed ↗ |
| 100 mg | Oral | NuCare Pharmaceuticals,Inc. × 3 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg | Oral | PD-Rx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg | Oral | Preferred Pharmaceuticals Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 100 mg | Oral | Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 💊Bulk drug substance | ||||
| 1 kg/kg | — | Cohance Lifesciences Limited | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 g/g | — | Fagron Inc | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | FDC Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 50 kg/50 kg | — | Hy-gro Chemicals Pharmtek Pvt Ltd | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 g/g | — | Letco Medical, Llc × 2 listings | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 g/g | — | Medisca Inc. | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Pharmaron Manufacturing Services (UK) Ltd | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 25 kg/25 kg | — | Professional Compounding Centers of America | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Professional Compounding Centers of America dba PCCA | BULK INGREDIENT FOR HUMAN PRESCRIPTION COMPOUNDING | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Spectrum Chemicals and Laboratory Products | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 25 kg/25 kg | — | Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Village Pharma LLC | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | Virupaksha Organics Limited | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
| 1 kg/kg | — | W. R. Grace & C0.-Conn. | BULK INGREDIENT | View NDC → |
Showing 39 of 39 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 39 Flurbiprofen 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 Flurbiprofen — 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 Flurbiprofen 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 Flurbiprofen 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 4502 5 dose forms · 6 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Extended Release Oral Capsule RxCUI 372245No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 200 MGRxCUI 199749 -
Dose form (SCDF) Ophthalmic Solution RxCUI 372246In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) sodium 0.3 MG/MLRxCUI 1243585 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Lozenge RxCUI 393449No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 8.75 MGRxCUI 389247 -
Dose form (SCDF) Oral Tablet RxCUI 372249In current FDA listings -
Dose form (SCDF) Rectal Suppository RxCUI 372247No current FDA listingClinical drug / strength (SCD) 100 MGRxCUI 105845
Look up RxCUI 4502 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 Flurbiprofen 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 3 more on the FDA NDC directory.
RxNorm drug class
Flurbiprofen belongs to the Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drug 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 5 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. Bryant Ranch Prepack 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.