Prazosin Hcl
Brand names: Prazosin Hcl
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 955,588
- Medicare drug cost
- $17.2M
- Average cost per prescription
- $18.04
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 29,826
Where it is prescribed
List the prescribers in any state, county, city or ZIP code →
What it is used for
Prazosin hydrochloride capsules are indicated for the treatment of hypertension, to lower blood pressure. Lowering blood pressure reduces the risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events, primarily strokes and myocardial infarctions. These benefits have been seen in controlled trials of antihypertensive drugs from a wide variety of pharmacologic classes, including this drug. Control of high blood pressure should be part of comprehensive cardiovascular risk management, including, as appropriate, lipid control, diabetes management, antithrombotic therapy, smoking cessation, exercise, and limited sodium intake. Many patients will require more than one drug to achieve blood pressure goals. For specific advice on goals and management, see published guidelines, such as those of the National High Blood Pressure Education Program's Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC). Numerous antihypertensive drugs, from a variety of pharmacologic classes and with different mechanisms of action, have been shown in randomized controlled trials to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, and it can be concluded that it is blood pressure reduction, and not some other pharmacologic property of the drugs, that is largely responsible for those benefits. The largest and most consistent cardiovascular outcome benefit has been a…
From the FDA-approved prescribing information (label dated January 2025). Full labels on DailyMed (opens in a new tab)
Who prescribes it
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners 37.2%
- Psychiatry 27.5%
- Nurse Practitioners 11.0%
- Family Medicine 8.2%
- Physician Assistants 5.6%
- Internal Medicine 5.3%
- Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 1.2%
- Cardiology 0.7%
- Geriatric Medicine 0.7%
- Neurology 0.4%
- Addiction Medicine 0.3%
- Nephrology (Kidney) 0.3%
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 42% from 2019 to 2024.
Biggest change by state since 2019
- Kentucky +84%
- West Virginia +70%
- Indiana +69%
- Iowa +68%
- Georgia +68%
- New Mexico (smallest change) +1%
- Maine (smallest change) +9%
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 2 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.
Ax Pharmaceutical Corp
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 99 g | white powder | |
Direct_rx
| Strength | Looks like | Imprint |
|---|---|---|
| 5 mg | blue capsule, 18 mm | LIFESTAR 440 |
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
- Mar 2026 · Appco Pharma LLC · Class II
cGMP deviation: detection of Nitrosamine Drug Substance-Related Impurities, N-nitroso-prazosin impurity C (NNP) above acceptable limits. - Oct 2025 · Amerisource Health Services LLC · Class II
Failed Impurities/Degradation Specification: presence of N-nitroso Prazosin impurity C above the Carcinogenic Potency Categorization Approach (CPCA) acceptable intake limit - Apr 2022 · McKesson Medical-Surgical Inc. Corporate Office · Class II
cGMP deviations: Temperature abuse
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.