Benzodiazepines
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 30,249,235
- Medicare drug cost
- $236.6M
- Average cost per prescription
- $7.82
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 244,596
Where it is prescribed
What these drugs are
Benzodiazepines are sedatives used for anxiety, panic, seizures and sleep. They are controlled substances because they can cause dependence, and are riskier for older adults.
Who prescribes it
- Family Medicine 25.9%
- Internal Medicine 20.6%
- Psychiatry 15.6%
- Nurse Practitioners 14.0%
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners 8.1%
- Physician Assistants 5.2%
- Neurology 2.3%
- General Practice 1.9%
- Geriatric Medicine 0.8%
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 0.8%
- Pain Medicine 0.5%
- Cardiology 0.4%
Share of Medicare prescriptions written by each specialty.
Drugs in this group
| Drug | Prescriptions |
|---|---|
| Alprazolam (Xanax, Xanax Xr) | 10,871,461 |
| Clonazepam (Klonopin) | 8,114,614 |
| Lorazepam (Ativan, Loreev Xr) | 7,199,986 |
| Diazepam (Valium, Valtoco) | 2,213,078 |
| Temazepam (Restoril) | 1,850,096 |
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 $1.6M in payments to clinicians that named this group of drugs in 2025 (meals, speaking, consulting and similar).
- Neurelis, Inc. $1.4M
- Almatica Pharma LLC $194,818
- Mylan Inc. $5,000
- Oyster Point Pharma, Inc. $2,724
Source: CMS Open Payments, general payments (not research), program year 2025. A payment is not evidence of wrongdoing. Payments by doctor
Recalls and shortages
On the FDA shortage list now
- Lorazepam, Injection, 2 mg/1 mL (NDC 65219-368-02) (Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC)
- Lorazepam, Injection, 2 mg/1 mL Syringes (NDC 0409-1985-30) (Hospira, Inc., A Pfizer Company)
- Lorazepam, Injection, 2 mg/1 mL (NDC 76329-8261-1) (Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
- Ativan, Injection, 2 mg/1 mL (NDC 0641-6000-10) (Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.)
- Ativan, Injection, 4 mg/1 mL (NDC 0641-6003-25) (Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.)
- Lorazepam, Injection, 4 mg/1 mL (NDC 0641-6047-10) (Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.)
- Lorazepam, Injection, 2 mg/1 mL (NDC 0641-6046-10) (Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.)
- Ativan, Injection, 4 mg/1 mL (NDC 0641-6002-10) (Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc.)
6 recalls since 2020
- Jul 2025 · Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. · Class II
Failed Impurities/Degradation Specifications: An out-of-Specification for total related compounds - Nov 2024 · Endo USA, Inc. · Class I
Labeling: Label Error on Declared Strength; Some cartons were incorrectly labeled. The blister strips inside the product carton reflect the correct strength. - Jul 2024 · Endo Pharmaceuticals, Inc. · Class I
Labeling: Label Error on Declared Strength; Some cartons were incorrectly labeled as 0.125 mg instead of 0.25 mg. The blister strips inside the product carton reflect the correct strength of 0.25 mg. - May 2023 · Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. · Class II
Failed Impurities/Degradation Specifications: Out-of-specification results for total related compounds observed during retain steting due to the elevated Related Compound-C. - Jul 2022 · Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. · Class II
Failed Impurities/Degradation Specifications: Out-of-specification results observed for total related compounds during testing of retain samples. - Apr 2022 · Viatris Inc · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications: low out-of-specification dissolution test results observed.
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.