Malathion Topical
Malathion topical is a prescription lice-killing treatment used on the scalp to treat head lice and their eggs.
🧬 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 2 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 →
📖 Malathion Topical: Patient Information Guide
A plain-language walkthrough of Malathion Topical — 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▾
Malathion topical is used to treat head lice on the scalp hair.
- Malathion and Ovide lotions are indicated for head lice (Pediculus humanus capitis) and their eggs (ova) on the scalp hair
⚙️How it works▾
Malathion is an organophosphate compound that works by blocking an enzyme called cholinesterase, which lice need for normal nerve function. When this enzyme is inhibited, the lice cannot survive. The same mechanism explains why accidental ingestion or large amounts absorbed through the skin can cause toxicity in people — your nervous system uses cholinesterase too.
Because the amount of malathion absorbed through the scalp during normal use is not fully characterized, it is important to follow dosing instructions carefully, especially for children.
💊How it's taken▾
Malathion lotion is applied topically — directly to dry scalp hair — in a quantity just sufficient to wet the hair and scalp thoroughly. Special attention should be paid to the back of the head and neck. The lotion is left on for 8 to 12 hours, then shampooed out, and a fine-toothed nit comb is used to remove dead lice and eggs.
- A second application may be used if lice are still seen after 7 to 9 days
- Further treatment beyond two applications is generally not necessary
Always follow your prescriber's specific instructions and the directions on the label.
🤒Side effects — in detail▾
The most common reactions involve the scalp and skin where the lotion is applied.
- Scalp and skin irritation
- Stinging sensation
- Chemical burns, including second-degree burns
- Mild eye redness or irritation (conjunctivitis) if lotion contacts the eyes
If you develop burns or irritation that doesn't clear after stopping use, or if your eyes remain irritated after flushing with water, contact your doctor.
⚠️Warnings & precautions▾
- Flammability: Malathion lotion is highly flammable. While hair is wet with the lotion, stay away from open flames, lit cigarettes, hair dryers, and electric curlers. Let hair air-dry and remain uncovered.
- Chemical burns: Second-degree burns and stinging have been reported. If irritation develops, rinse immediately. If irritation returns on reapplication, stop use and see a doctor.
- Eye contact: If lotion gets in the eyes, flush immediately with water. Seek medical advice if irritation or vision changes persist.
- Children: Must be used only under direct adult supervision. Safety and effectiveness in children under 6 have not been well established. Never use on newborns or infants.
- Accidental swallowing: Seek emergency medical help immediately if the lotion is ingested.
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding: Consult your doctor before using if you are pregnant or nursing.
🔀What it interacts with▾
No specific drug interactions are described in the labeling, but one important substance consideration is noted.
- Isopropyl alcohol (in the vehicle): The lotion contains a high concentration of isopropyl alcohol, which must be considered — especially in the event of accidental ingestion
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▾
- Newborns and infants: Do not use — their scalps are more permeable and may absorb too much malathion
- Allergy: Do not use if you are sensitive to malathion or any ingredient in the lotion
- Children under 6: Safety and effectiveness have not been established in well-controlled trials
- Children (any age): Must be applied under direct adult supervision; children should be warned to keep away from flames and heat sources while hair is wet
- Pregnancy: Animal studies did not show harm, but consult your doctor before using — use only if clearly needed
- Breastfeeding: It is not known if malathion passes into breast milk; use caution and consult your doctor
🚑If you take too much▾
If malathion lotion is accidentally swallowed, seek emergency medical help immediately. Swallowed malathion can cause symptoms of cholinesterase overload — such as excessive sweating, drooling, stomach cramps, slow heartbeat, and severe breathing difficulty. Emergency treatment may include inducing vomiting, stomach lavage (washing out the stomach), assisted breathing, and the medication atropine to counteract the effects.
📡Pharmacodynamics — effects in the body▾
Malathion works by inhibiting cholinesterase — an enzyme the nervous system needs to regulate nerve signals. In lice, blocking this enzyme is fatal. In people, too much cholinesterase inhibition (from accidental ingestion or large skin absorption) can overstimulate the nervous system, causing increased secretions, digestive cramping, slow heart rate, and serious breathing problems.
🔬Pharmacokinetics — how your body processes it▾
The exact amount of malathion absorbed through the scalp from the lotion formulation is not fully known. Studies with malathion in an acetone vehicle showed about 8% of the applied dose can be absorbed through human skin, but absorption from the lotion formulation specifically has not been fully characterized. Actual systemic exposure is expected to be less than 10% of the dose applied.
📦How to store it▾
Store at 20° to 25°C (68° to 77°F) . Keep away from heat and open flame.
📄 Written from Malathion Topical’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 Malathion Topical
17 supplements and herbal products have documented interactions with Malathion Topical in the licensed clinical database we use. Most are manageable — but your pharmacist should know about everything you take, including vitamins and herbals.
- Major · 1
- Moderate · 7
- Minor · 9
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 Malathion Topical — the kind of thing our pharmacy team would talk through with you at the counter.
How exactly do I use malathion lotion — do I put it on wet or dry hair? ▾
Why can't I use a hair dryer after applying the lotion? ▾
What should I do if the lice are still there after the first treatment? ▾
Is it safe to use on my young child? ▾
The lotion is burning my scalp — is that normal, and what should I do? ▾
Can I use this if I'm pregnant or breastfeeding? ▾
Is Malathion Topical available over the counter? ▾
When was Malathion Topical first available? ▾
Who makes Malathion Topical? ▾
💬 Answers drafted from Malathion Topical’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 Malathion Topical comes
Malathion Topical is available in 1 form. 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.
Topical cream, ointment or gel
How this form is used
- Malathion and Ovide are used to treat head lice and their eggs on the scalp hair
- Apply to dry scalp hair in an amount just enough to thoroughly wet the hair and scalp, paying extra attention to the back of the head and neck
- Wash hands immediately after applying
- Allow hair to air-dry naturally — do not use a hair dryer or any electric heat source, and leave hair uncovered
- After 8 to 12 hours, shampoo, rinse, and comb with a fine-toothed nit comb to remove dead lice and eggs; repeat with a second application if lice are still present after 7 to 9 days
📊 Malathion Topical across the U.S. market
How Malathion Topical 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.
Share of FDA-listed product records by manufacturer — FDA National Drug Code Directory. Record counts are not sales or prescription volume.
📈 How widely Malathion Topical is used
A general measure of how commonly Malathion Topical 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 Malathion Topical 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 Malathion Topical prescribed? Of the 1,596 medications we measure, Malathion Topical ranks #1,057 by Medicaid prescriptions — more than 34% of them.
Utilization by Malathion Topical 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.
Other Malathion Topical products — combination packs and listings not yet matched to a specific clinical product (kept visible so every prescription is accounted for)
Summed across the 1 of 3 listed NDC products with Medicaid activity.
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 Malathion Topical, 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 1 of 3 listed Malathion Topical NDCs with Medicaid activity.
🔍 Compare Malathion Topical products
A representative set of FDA-listed product records for Malathion Topical — 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 💊Topical cream, ointment or gel | ||||
| 0.0005 g/mL | Topical | Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.005 g/mL | Topical | Suven Pharmaceuticals Limited × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
| 0.0005 g/mL | Topical | Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. × 2 listings | ANDA | View NDC → |
Showing 6 of 6 products — FDA National Drug Code Directory. See every product, package size and price: browse all 6 Malathion Topical 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 Malathion Topical — 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 Malathion Topical 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 Malathion Topical 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 6606 2 dose forms · 2 strengths
-
Dose form (SCDF) Medicated Shampoo RxCUI 393231In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 10 MG/MLRxCUI 142051 -
Dose form (SCDF) Topical Lotion RxCUI 378990In current FDA listingsClinical drug / strength (SCD) 5 MG/MLRxCUI 204119
Look up RxCUI 6606 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 Malathion Topical 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
RxNorm drug class
Malathion Topical belongs to the Cholinesterase Inhibitor 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 2 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.
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. Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. 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.