Carbamazepine
Brand names: Carbamazepine Er, Carbatrol, Epitol, Carbamazepine, Equetro, Tegretol, Tegretol Xr
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 839,893
- Medicare drug cost
- $69.7M
- Average cost per prescription
- $82.99
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 28,520
Where it is prescribed
List the prescribers in any state, county, city or ZIP code →
What it is used for
Epilepsy Carbamazepine is indicated for use as an anticonvulsant drug. Evidence supporting efficacy of carbamazepine as an anticonvulsant was derived from active drug-controlled studies that enrolled patients with the following seizure types: Partial seizures with complex symptomatology (psychomotor, temporal lobe). Patients with these seizures appear to show greater improvement than those with other types. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures (grand mal). Mixed seizure patterns which include the above, or other partial or generalized seizures. Absence seizures (petit mal) do not appear to be controlled by carbamazepine (see PRECAUTIONS, General).
From the FDA-approved prescribing information (label dated April 2026). Full labels on DailyMed (opens in a new tab)
Boxed warning
WARNINGS SERIOUS DERMATOLOGIC REACTIONS AND HLA-B*1502 ALLELE SERIOUS AND SOMETIMES FATAL DERMATOLOGIC REACTIONS, INCLUDING TOXIC EPIDERMAL NECROLYSIS (TEN) AND STEVENS-JOHNSON SYNDROME (SJS), HAVE BEEN REPORTED DURING TREATMENT WITH CARBAMAZEPINE. THESE REACTIONS ARE ESTIMATED TO OCCUR IN 1 TO 6 PER 10,000 NEW USERS IN COUNTRIES WITH MAINLY CAUCASIAN POPULATIONS, BUT THE RISK IN SOME ASIAN COUNTRIES IS ESTIMATED TO BE ABOUT 10 TIMES HIGHER. STUDIES IN PATIENTS OF CHINESE ANCESTRY HAVE FOUND A STRONG ASSOCIATION BETWEEN THE RISK OF DEVELOPING SJS/TEN AND THE PRESENCE OF HLA-B*1502, AN INHERITED ALLELIC VARIANT OF THE HLA-B GENE. HLA-B*1502 IS FOUND ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN PATIENTS WITH ANCESTRY ACROSS BROAD AREAS OF ASIA. PATIENTS WITH ANCESTRY IN GENETICALLY AT-RISK POPULATIONS SHOULD BE SCREENED FOR THE PRESENCE OF HLA-B*1502 PRIOR TO INITIATING TREATMENT WITH CARBAMAZEPINE. PATIENTS…
The FDA’s strongest warning on a label. It doesn’t mean the drug is unsafe for most people; talk to your doctor or pharmacist before stopping or changing any medicine.
Who prescribes it
- Neurology 29.6%
- Family Medicine 16.4%
- Nurse Practitioners 14.3%
- Internal Medicine 13.5%
- Psychiatry 9.0%
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners 5.8%
- Physician Assistants 4.7%
- Geriatric Medicine 1.5%
- General Practice 1.2%
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 0.5%
- Child Neurology 0.4%
- Hospitalist 0.4%
All prescribers, by place, name or specialty →
Share of Medicare prescriptions written by each specialty. Select one to list its prescribers.
Trend, 2019–2024
Medicare prescriptions fell 20% from 2019 to 2024.
Biggest change by state since 2019
- Puerto Rico −3%
- Montana −11%
- Arkansas −13%
- Florida −13%
- Minnesota −13%
- North Dakota (smallest change) −31%
- Mississippi (smallest change) −25%
From CMS’s yearly state and national Part D summaries, which count every prescriber, including those CMS leaves out of its per-clinician data (fewer than 11 prescriptions). That is why these totals are higher than the count at the top of this page. Prescriptions include refills.
What it looks like
Pills from 5 makers on file. The same medicine can look different depending on who made it, so check the imprint (the letters and numbers on the pill) with your pharmacist if a refill looks different.
Alembic Pharmaceuticals Inc.
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 100 mg | yellow round tablet, 7 mm | L7 |
| 200 mg | pink round tablet, 9 mm | L6 |
| 400 mg | orange round tablet, 12 mm | A279 |
Bostal LLC
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 100 mg | yellow round tablet, 8 mm | IMPRINTEDCER100ONONESIDE RELEASEPORTALONONESIDE |
| 200 mg | yellow round tablet, 10 mm | IMPRINTEDCER200ONONESIDE RELEASEPORTALONONESIDE |
| 400 mg | yellow round tablet, 12 mm | IMPRINTEDCER400ONONESIDE RELEASEPORTALONONESIDE |
Jubilant Cadista Pharmaceuticals Inc.
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 100 mg | pink round tablet, 7 mm | CR 100 |
| 200 mg | pink round tablet, 10 mm | CR 200 |
| 400 mg | pink round tablet, 12 mm | CR 400 |
Oryza Pharmaceuticals Inc.
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 200 mg | white round tablet, 10 mm | C 200 |
| 400 mg | white round tablet, 12 mm | C400 |
Umedica Laboratories USA Inc.
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 100 mg | pink round tablet, 7 mm | CR 100 |
| 200 mg | pink round tablet, 10 mm | CR 200 |
| 400 mg | pink round tablet, 12 mm | CR 400 |
Source: DailyMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine), from each maker’s FDA drug listing. A few makers are shown, not every one. Never take a pill you can’t identify; ask a pharmacist.
Industry payments about this drug
Drug makers reported $9,100 in payments to clinicians that named this drug in 2025 (meals, speaking, consulting and similar).
- Validus Pharmaceuticals LLC $9,100
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.
3 recalls since 2020
- Sep 2025 · Amerisource Health Services LLC · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications. - Dec 2021 · Torrent Pharma Inc. · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications - May 2020 · Torrent Pharma Inc. · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications
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.