Finasteride
Brand names: Proscar, Finasteride
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 6,624,341
- Medicare drug cost
- $86.7M
- Average cost per prescription
- $13.10
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 120,504
Where it is prescribed
List the prescribers in any state, county, city or ZIP code →
What it is used for
PROSCAR, is a 5α-reductase inhibitor, indicated for the treatment of symptomatic benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in men with an enlarged prostate to: Improve symptoms Reduce the risk of acute urinary retention Reduce the risk of the need for surgery including transurethral resection of the prostate (TURP) and prostatectomy.
From the FDA-approved prescribing information (label dated March 2026). Full labels on DailyMed (opens in a new tab)
Who prescribes it
- Urology 30.0%
- Family Medicine 22.8%
- Internal Medicine 22.1%
- Nurse Practitioners 11.1%
- Physician Assistants 6.4%
- General Practice 1.7%
- Geriatric Medicine 1.6%
- Dermatology 1.1%
- Nephrology (Kidney) 0.6%
- Hospitalist 0.4%
- Cardiology 0.4%
- Infectious Disease 0.2%
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 rose 15% from 2019 to 2024.
Biggest change by state since 2019
- Idaho +41%
- Utah +41%
- Vermont +35%
- Delaware +31%
- Maine +31%
- Rhode Island (smallest change) +3%
- Ohio (smallest change) +4%
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 3 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.
Camber Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 1 mg | brown round tablet, 7 mm | H 36 |
Organon LLC
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 5 mg | blue freeform tablet, 7 mm | MSD 72 PROSCAR |
Remedyrepack Inc.
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 5 mg | blue round tablet, 8 mm | E 61 |
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
No industry payments to clinicians named this drug in 2025.
Recalls and shortages
Not on the FDA drug shortage list.
1 recall since 2020
- Feb 2023 · Accord Healthcare, Inc. · Class II
CGMP Deviations: recalling drug products following an FDA inspection.
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.