Phenytoin
Brand names: Dilantin, Dilantin-125, Phenytoin
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 64,825
- Medicare drug cost
- $2.5M
- Average cost per prescription
- $38.32
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 3,401
Where it is prescribed
List the prescribers in any state, county, city or ZIP code →
What it is used for
DILANTIN is indicated for the treatment of tonic-clonic (grand mal) and psychomotor (temporal lobe) seizures and prevention and treatment of seizures occurring during or following neurosurgery.
From the FDA-approved prescribing information (label dated August 2023). Full labels on DailyMed (opens in a new tab)
Who prescribes it
- Internal Medicine 26.9%
- Family Medicine 25.8%
- Neurology 18.6%
- Nurse Practitioners 15.1%
- Geriatric Medicine 3.4%
- Physician Assistants 2.6%
- General Practice 1.7%
- Hospitalist 1.4%
- Emergency Medicine 0.6%
- Child Neurology 0.5%
- Pediatrics 0.5%
- Pulmonology 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 44% from 2019 to 2024.
Biggest change by state since 2019
- Texas −41%
- California −42%
- Michigan −42%
- Massachusetts −43%
- Ohio −43%
- North Carolina (smallest change) −52%
- New York (smallest change) −49%
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.
Major Pharmaceuticals
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 100 mg | orange capsule, 16 mm | TARO PHN 100 |
Parke-Davis Div of Pfizer Inc
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 50 mg | yellow triangle tablet, 12 mm, scored to split in 2 | PD 007 |
Viatris Specialty LLC
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 30 mg | pink capsule, 14 mm | VLE DILANTIN 30 MG |
| 100 mg | white capsule, 16 mm | VLE DILANTIN 100 MG |
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.
3 recalls since 2020
- Oct 2023 · Amneal Pharmaceuticals of New York, LLC · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications - May 2023 · Amneal Pharmaceuticals of New York, LLC · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications: Out-of-specification results for dissolution (above specification) - Feb 2020 · Taro Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. · Class I
Resuspension Problems: Two lots of Phenytoin Oral Suspension USP 125mg/5mL may coagulate and may not resuspend as per the label copy instructions.
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.