Yellow Card: report a side effect for someone

Noticed a change in your child or partner since they started an antidepressant, finasteride or isotretinoin? You can report it for them. In the UK, the Yellow Card scheme takes reports from parents, partners and carers, and the US form can be filled in by someone else too.

That includes problems that continued after stopping: PSSD after an antidepressant, PFS after finasteride and PAS after isotretinoin.

You may be the first to see the change. The UK medicines regulator tells men on finasteride that “you may not notice some changes in your mood and behaviour”, so they should tell friends and family they’re taking it. “Others may notice changes,” it says.

A teenager on an acne medicine, or a partner on a hair-loss tablet, may not link a change to the pills at all.

What does the form ask of you?

Can I report a side effect for someone else?

Yes, with their permission. The MHRA, which runs the Yellow Card scheme, says reports come from “the public (including patients, parents, and carers)”. It adds: “You can report for yourself or for someone else, with their permission.”

The Yellow Card Centre for Wales, part of NHS Wales, spells out who counts. It lists your child, and someone you’re responsible for, “e.g. spouse, partner, or an adult child”. It also lists anyone who asks you to report for them “with their agreement”.

So talk to them first, even when it’s your teenager. A report is easier to get right together: they know their symptoms, and you may remember the dates.

The MHRA’s latest warnings on isotretinoin and finasteride ask caregivers to report, alongside patients and health professionals.

How do I fill in the Yellow Card for someone else?

Start at the Yellow Card site. You don’t need an account. We went through the first pages on 6 November 2026 and entered no details.

1. Search for the medicine. Type the name on the pack, for example “Isotretinoin”, and pick it from the list.

2. Say what it is. Choose “Member of the public”, then “A suspected side effect”.

3. Say who it’s about. The form asks “Who does your report relate to?” Choose Your child or Someone else.

4. Give your own details. The name, email and postcode are yours, as the person sending it. The address and phone boxes are optional.

5. Add their symptoms and the medicine. Describe the side effects, then the dose and dates. The next section shows an example.

No internet? The MHRA’s Yellow Card line is free on 0800 731 6789, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Play video: Yellow Card - How to report

Our step-by-step guides for PSSD, finasteride and isotretinoin cover the later pages of the same form.

What should I write about their symptoms?

Write each symptom, when it began, and whether it continued after they stopped. Use their words where you can.

Report every symptom, not only sexual ones. Criteria for these conditions proposed in 2022 also describe emotional numbing, problems with cognition and changes in other senses.

1

Who you are

“I am his mother. He asked me to send this.”

2

The medicine

“Isotretinoin 40 mg a day, March 2025 to September 2025.”

3

What changed

One symptom at a time, as they put it: “feels numb”, “no interest in anything”.

4

That it continued

“Symptoms continued after stopping.”

Don’t have every detail? The Welsh centre says it “does not matter if you cannot complete all sections”. You also don’t need proof. “Only a suspicion is needed,” the MHRA says.

What can I do now?

These medicines help many people. If someone you care for has side effects, any change is a decision for them and their prescriber. Antidepressants shouldn’t be stopped suddenly. For finasteride and isotretinoin, follow what the leaflet says.

Report it: it helps everyone

A doctor’s note helps the person you care for. A report to the medicines regulator helps everyone else: it is how patterns get noticed.

• No proof needed. A suspicion is enough, even years after stopping.
• Where: the Yellow Card scheme in the UK, MedWatch in the US. Both take reports sent by someone else.
• Use the right words. For lasting problems after an antidepressant, write Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (MedDRA 10086208). After finasteride, write Post 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor syndrome (MedDRA 10082430). PAS has no term yet, so say the symptoms continued after stopping.

Our reporting guide walks you through it

What else do people ask?

Can I report for my teenager? Yes. “Your child” is one of the answers on the Yellow Card form. The MHRA asks for their permission, so do it together if you can. Our guide for parents covers isotretinoin in teenagers, and what to do if your child has PAS.

How do I report for someone in the US? Use MedWatch, the US regulator’s scheme, and choose the Consumer/Patient form on the MedWatch site. The FDA’s Form 3500B says you can “have someone fill it out for you”. It asks for the patient’s initials and age, and your details separately. Our FDA guide covers every page.

Is it too late if they stopped years ago? No. The MHRA takes reports of reactions “experienced at any time, including historic adverse experiences”. More in reporting a side effect years later.

Do they need a diagnosis first? No, and you don’t need a doctor to agree. If a doctor has already named the condition, such as PSSD, use that name in the description.

Ask them first, then write one sentence together: “Symptoms continued after stopping.”

Sources

1. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), How to report, Yellow Card website. Reports come from “the public (including patients, parents, and carers), as well as by healthcare professionals”. “You can report for yourself or for someone else, with their permission”. The page says nothing about reports for someone who has died or cannot give permission. Read 6 November 2026.
2. The Yellow Card form, seen on the live site on 6 November 2026. After choosing ISOTRETINOIN, “Start your report” asks “Are you a member of the public or a healthcare professional?” and “What does your report relate to?”, with “A suspected side effect” as one answer. The next page, “About You”, offers “Already registered? Sign in here” but does not require it, and asks “Who does your report relate to?”, with the answers You, Consumer, Your child and Someone else. It then asks for a title, first name, last name, email and postcode; the address and telephone boxes are marked optional. We entered no personal details and went no further.
3. MHRA, The Yellow Card scheme: guidance for healthcare professionals, patients and the public, GOV.UK. For patients without online access: “call 0800 731 6789 for free, Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm”. It also says: “You do not have to prove causality to report a suspected ADR, only a suspicion is needed”. Read 6 November 2026.
4. Yellow Card Centre Wales, All Wales Therapeutics and Toxicology Centre (NHS Wales), Yellow Card reporting for patients, carers and the public. You can report side effects that happened to “Your child”, or to “Someone you are responsible for (e.g. spouse, partner, or an adult child), or someone who asks you to make a report on their behalf with their agreement”. “We need your name and contact details, so we can get in touch if we need more information”. It also says: “It does not matter if you cannot complete all sections of the Yellow Card”. Read 6 November 2026.
5. MHRA, Finasteride: reminder of the risk psychiatric side effects and of sexual side effects (which may persist after discontinuation of treatment), Drug Safety Update, 29 April 2024. Advice for patients and caregivers: “you may not notice some changes in your mood and behaviour”, so tell friends and family; “Others may notice changes”. Healthcare professionals, patients and caregivers are asked to report on the Yellow Card scheme. Read 6 November 2026.
6. MHRA, Isotretinoin: changes to prescribing guidance and additional risk minimisation measures, Drug Safety Update, 22 January 2026. “Healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers are asked to submit reports using the Yellow Card scheme”. Read 6 November 2026.
7. MHRA, Finasteride and Dutasteride: updated safety warnings for psychiatric side effects and sexual dysfunction, Drug Safety Update, 11 May 2026. “Healthcare professionals, patients, and caregivers are asked to submit reports using the Yellow Card scheme”. Read 6 November 2026.
8. MHRA, Isotretinoin (Roaccutane▼): introduction of new safety measures, including additional oversight of the initiation of treatment for patients under 18 years of age, Drug Safety Update, 31 October 2023. “Reports can be made of suspected reactions experienced at any time, including historic adverse experiences with medicines”. Read 6 November 2026.
9. US Food and Drug Administration, Form FDA 3500B, MedWatch consumer voluntary reporting form, version 09/2025. “Fill in as much information as possible and send in the report even if you do not have all the information”. It also says: “You can fill out this form yourself or have someone fill it out for you”. Section E: “About the Person Who Had the Problem”, starting with “Person’s Initials” and age. Section F: “About the Person Filling Out This Form”. Online: the MedWatch reporting site. Read 6 November 2026.
10. Healy D, Bahrick A, Bak M and colleagues. Diagnostic criteria for enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, finasteride and isotretinoin. Int J Risk Saf Med 2022;33(1):65-76. Proposed criteria developed through expert agreement. Section 3 lists “emotional numbing”, “cognitive impairment” and “other sensory problems involving skin, smell, taste or vision”. “The incidence of these conditions is unknown”. Read 6 November 2026.
11. MedDRA terms as listed in our reporting data: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (10086208) and Post 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor syndrome (10082430). There is no term yet for lasting effects after isotretinoin.
12. MHRA, Yellow Card - How to report, YouTube, 12 November 2024, 1 minute 33 seconds.

Sources checked on 6 November 2026. AI-assisted writing and review, not clinical review.