Hydromorphone Hcl
Brand names: Hydromorphone Er, Hydromorphone Hcl, Dilaudid
Part of: Opioid painkillers
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 525,830
- Medicare drug cost
- $12.9M
- Average cost per prescription
- $24.48
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 16,148
Where it is prescribed
List the prescribers in any state, county, city or ZIP code →
What it is used for
Hydromorphone hydrochloride tablets are indicated for the management of pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic and for which alternative treatments are inadequate. Limitations of Use Because of the risks of addiction, abuse, misuse, overdose, and death, which can occur at any dosage or duration and persist over the course of therapy, reserve opioid analgesics, including hydromorphone hydrochloride tablets, for use in patients for whom alternative treatment options are ineffective, not tolerated, or would be otherwise inadequate to provide sufficient management of pain.
From the FDA-approved prescribing information (label dated August 2026). Full labels on DailyMed (opens in a new tab)
Boxed warning
WARNING: SERIOUS AND LIFE-THREATENING RISKS FROM USE OF HYDROMORPHONE HYDROCHLORIDE TABLETS
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
- Pain Medicine 23.5%
- Nurse Practitioners 20.6%
- Physician Assistants 14.9%
- Family Medicine 10.3%
- Internal Medicine 8.9%
- Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) 4.5%
- Hospice & Palliative Medicine 3.4%
- Anesthesiology 2.5%
- Orthopedic Surgery 2.3%
- Hematology & Oncology 1.6%
- Neurology 0.8%
- Geriatric Medicine 0.6%
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 17% from 2019 to 2024.
Biggest change by state since 2019
- Minnesota +17%
- Utah +6%
- Washington +1%
- Maine +0%
- Oregon −2%
- Florida (smallest change) −34%
- Connecticut (smallest change) −32%
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 1 maker 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.
Redpharm Drug
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 2 mg | white round tablet, 6 mm | M 2 |
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 $2,232 in payments to clinicians that named this drug in 2025 (meals, speaking, consulting and similar).
- Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC $2,232
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.