Fluorouracil
Brand names: Fluorouracil
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 581,480
- Medicare drug cost
- $38.5M
- Average cost per prescription
- $66.23
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 13,616
Where it is prescribed
List the prescribers in any state, county, city or ZIP code →
What it is used for
Fluorouracil is indicated for the treatment of patients with: 1.1 Adenocarcinoma of the Colon and Rectum 1.2 Adenocarcinoma of the Breast 1.3 Gastric Adenocarcinoma
From the FDA-approved prescribing information (label dated August 2026). Full labels on DailyMed (opens in a new tab)
Boxed warning
WARNING: SERIOUS ADVERSE REACTIONS OR DEATH IN PATIENTS WITH COMPLETE DPD DEFICIENCY Increased Risk of Serious Adverse Reactions or Death in Patients with Complete DPD Deficiency Test patients for genetic variants of DPYD prior to initiating fluorouracil unless immediate treatment is necessary. Avoid use of fluorouracil in patients with certain homozygous or compound heterozygous DPYD variants that result in complete DPD deficiency
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
- Dermatology 56.7%
- Physician Assistants 25.1%
- Nurse Practitioners 10.5%
- Mohs Surgery 3.8%
- Family Medicine 1.0%
- Dermatopathology 0.9%
- Internal Medicine 0.6%
- Plastic Surgery 0.4%
- Podiatrists 0.3%
- Hematology & Oncology 0.2%
- Facial Plastic Surgery 0.1%
- General Surgery 0.1%
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 44% from 2019 to 2024.
Biggest change by state since 2019
- Washington +77%
- Indiana +71%
- Michigan +70%
- Wisconsin +63%
- Minnesota +56%
- Texas (smallest change) +26%
- Florida (smallest change) +28%
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.
Industry payments about this drug
Drug makers reported $23,382 in payments to clinicians that named this drug in 2025 (meals, speaking, consulting and similar).
- Hill Dermaceuticals, Inc. $23,382
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.
No FDA-reported recalls since 2020.
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.