Antidepressants
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 92,492,810
- Medicare drug cost
- $1.34B
- Average cost per prescription
- $14.50
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 346,971
Where it is prescribed
What these drugs are
Antidepressants treat depression and are also used for anxiety and some pain conditions. Common groups are SSRIs, SNRIs and bupropion.
Who prescribes it
- Family Medicine 27.9%
- Internal Medicine 21.4%
- Nurse Practitioners 16.6%
- Psychiatry 11.3%
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners 8.4%
- Physician Assistants 5.7%
- Geriatric Medicine 1.8%
- Neurology 1.5%
- General Practice 1.1%
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 0.5%
- Hospitalist 0.4%
- Rheumatology 0.4%
Share of Medicare prescriptions written by each specialty.
Drugs in this group
| Drug | Prescriptions |
|---|---|
| Trazodone Hcl | 17,432,328 |
| Sertraline Hcl (Zoloft) | 15,223,225 |
| Duloxetine Hcl (Cymbalta, Drizalma Sprinkle) | 12,156,598 |
| Escitalopram Oxalate (Lexapro) | 11,820,894 |
| Bupropion Hcl (Bupropion Xl, Wellbutrin Sr, Wellbutrin Xl) | 8,041,943 |
| Mirtazapine (Remeron) | 7,428,444 |
| Fluoxetine Hcl (Fluoxetine Dr, Prozac) | 6,698,198 |
| Citalopram Hydrobromide (Celexa, Citalopram Hbr) | 5,996,532 |
| Venlafaxine Hcl (Effexor Xr) | 5,016,049 |
| Paroxetine Hcl (Paroxetine Cr, Paxil, Paxil Cr) | 2,678,599 |
Drugs filled in fewer than 1,000 counties have no page of their own; their national totals are shown here.
Industry payments about this drug
Drug makers reported $7,950 in payments to clinicians that named this group of drugs in 2025 (meals, speaking, consulting and similar).
- Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Inc. $7,881
- Eli Lilly and Company $69
Source: CMS Open Payments, general payments (not research), program year 2025. A payment is not evidence of wrongdoing. Payments by doctor
Recalls and shortages
Not on the FDA drug shortage list.
28 recalls since 2020
- Sep 2026 · Apotex Corp. · Class II
Failed dissolution specifications. - Aug 2026 · Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc · Class II
Presence of Foreign Tablets/Capsules - Jun 2026 · Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc. · Class II
CGMP Deviations: Presence of N-nitroso-duloxetine impurity above FDA recommended interim limit - May 2026 · Asclemed USA Inc. · Class II
CGMP Deviations; presence of Nitrosamine Drug Substance Related Impurity (NDSRI), N-nitroso-duloxetine, above the FDA acceptable intake limit. - Apr 2026 · Ajanta Pharma Ltd. · Class II
CGMP Deviations: Presence of N-nitroso-Duloxetine impurity above FDA recommended limit of 0.83 ppm, identified at the 12-month and 18-month long-term stability intervals. - Apr 2026 · Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc. · Class II
CGMP Deviations; presence of N-nitroso-duloxetine impurity above the FDA recommended limit - Jan 2026 · Granules Pharmaceuticals Inc. · Class II
Presence of Foreign Tablets/Capsules - Dec 2025 · Zydus Pharmaceuticals (USA) Inc · Class III
Failed Tablet/Capsule Specifications: Product complaint received that some tablets had a dent on the plain side of the tablet surface.
Recalls usually affect specific lots from one maker, not every version of a drug. Class I is the most serious; most drug recalls are Class II. FDA recalls (opens in a new tab)
Sources: CMS Medicare Part D Prescribers by Provider and Drug (2024; prescriptions include refills, and CMS hides counts under 11 per prescriber); U.S. Food and Drug Administration, openFDA (drug labels, NDC directory, enforcement reports, drug shortages); CMS Open Payments 2025; ClinicalTrials.gov. General information only, not medical advice; not yet reviewed by our medical reviewer.