Yes. 244 FDA-approved labels for Bupropion carry a boxed warning, and its subject is suicidal thoughts and behaviors suicidality and antidepressant drugs. A boxed warning is the most serious warning the FDA requires on a prescription label. It is applied to the drug and to the situations in which it is used, not to any particular person taking it.
What the warning says
Below is how the Bupropion warning opens on one specific label, identified underneath it. Of the 25 Bupropion labels sampled, 9 carried materially different wordings and this was the most common, used by 4 of them.
WARNING: SUICIDAL THOUGHTS AND BEHAVIORS SUICIDALITY AND ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS Antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults in short-term trials. These trials did not show an increase in the risk of suicidal thoughts and behavior with antidepressant use in subjects aged 65 and older [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] . In patients of all ages who are started on antidepressant therapy, monitor closely for worsening, and for emergence of suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Advise families and caregivers of the need for close observation and communication with the prescriber [see Warnings and Precautions ( 5.1 )] .
BUPROPION HYDROCHLORIDE, Bryant Ranch Prepack, label version effective 08 April 2026. Opening of the warning; read the full label on DailyMed.Why the wording differs between manufacturers
There is no single official text of a boxed warning. The FDA sets what a warning must cover, and each manufacturer writes its own label within that. Of the 25 Bupropion labels sampled for this page, 9 carried materially different wordings of the same warning, and the version quoted above was used by 4 of them.
The hazard does not change between those 9 versions. Only the sentences do, which is why a refill from a different manufacturer can carry warning text that reads differently without anything about Bupropion or its risks having changed.
Bupropion is dispensed under 244 current FDA labels despite this warning, which is the point worth holding onto: a boxed warning is a disclosure requirement, not a verdict. What a boxed warning does and does not mean sets out the distinction.
Common questions
Does Bupropion have a black box warning?
Yes. 244 FDA-approved labels for Bupropion carry a boxed warning, and its subject is suicidal thoughts and behaviors suicidality and antidepressant drugs. A boxed warning is the strongest warning the FDA requires on a prescription label, and it is applied to the drug, not to any individual taking it.
What does the Bupropion boxed warning say?
The wording is set by each manufacturer within FDA requirements, so it varies. In the version quoted on this page, taken from a label effective 08 April 2026, the warning concerns suicidal thoughts and behaviors suicidality and antidepressant drugs. The full text is linked so the exact version can be read rather than summarised.
Does the Bupropion boxed warning mean the drug is unsafe or being withdrawn?
No. It means the FDA requires the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors suicidality and antidepressant drugs to be communicated prominently so prescribers weigh it explicitly. Bupropion remains FDA-approved and is dispensed under 244 current labels. A boxed warning is a disclosure requirement, not a judgement that a drug should not be used.
Why do different pharmacies show different warning text for the same drug?
Because each manufacturer writes its own label within the FDA's requirements. Of 25 Bupropion labels sampled here, 9 carried materially different wordings of the same warning. The hazard described is the same; the sentences are not. This is a common source of confusion when a prescription is refilled with a different manufacturer's product.
Should I stop taking Bupropion because of this warning?
This page does not answer that and cannot. The warning about suicidal thoughts and behaviors suicidality and antidepressant drugs is written for a prescriber deciding whether Bupropion suits a particular patient, and stopping a prescribed medicine carries its own risks that this page knows nothing about. Raise it with the prescriber or a pharmacist, who can see the whole picture.
Where this page's information comes from
The quotation above is from one Bupropion label, linked below by its DailyMed set identifier so the exact version can be opened rather than taken on trust. The figure of 244 labels, and the count of 9 distinct wordings among 25 sampled, were computed from the openFDA labelling API on 30 August 2026.
- BUPROPION HYDROCHLORIDE prescribing information, Bryant Ranch Prepack, effective 08 April 2026.
- openFDA drug labelling API, the source of the label counts and variant counts on this page.
Labels are revised over time. The version linked above is the one this page was written against, and a newer revision may differ. Counts reflect the labels present in openFDA on the retrieval date.