Statins
At a glance
- Medicare prescriptions, 2024
- 126,579,151
- Medicare drug cost
- $1.47B
- Average cost per prescription
- $11.61
- Clinicians who prescribed it
- 375,470
Where it is prescribed
What these drugs are
Statins lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and the risk of heart attack and stroke.
Who prescribes it
- Family Medicine 33.1%
- Internal Medicine 28.1%
- Nurse Practitioners 15.9%
- Cardiology 7.4%
- Physician Assistants 5.6%
- Interventional Cardiology 2.5%
- General Practice 1.8%
- Geriatric Medicine 1.3%
- Endocrinology & Diabetes 1.0%
- Hospitalist 0.5%
- Nephrology (Kidney) 0.5%
- Cardiac Electrophysiology 0.2%
Share of Medicare prescriptions written by each specialty.
Drugs in this group
| Drug | Prescriptions |
|---|---|
| Atorvastatin Calcium (Atorvaliq, Lipitor) | 71,665,928 |
| Rosuvastatin Calcium (Crestor) | 29,787,376 |
| Simvastatin (Zocor) | 14,316,051 |
| Pravastatin Sodium | 8,700,849 |
| Lovastatin (Altoprev) | 1,979,543 |
| Pitavastatin Calcium (Livalo) | 121,407 |
| Fluvastatin Sodium (Fluvastatin Er, Lescol Xl) | 7,108 |
| Pitavastatin Magnesium (Zypitamag) | 1,532 |
Drugs filled in fewer than 1,000 counties have no page of their own; their national totals are shown here.
Industry payments about this drug
Drug makers reported $50,208 in payments to clinicians that named this group of drugs in 2025 (meals, speaking, consulting and similar).
- Medicure Pharma Inc. $47,943
- Cmp Pharma, Inc. $2,110
- Kowa Pharmaceuticals America, Inc. $88
- Mylan Inc. $67
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.
16 recalls since 2020
- Dec 2025 · Avkare · Class II
Out of specification for dissolution. - Sep 2025 · Ascend Laboratories, LLC · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications - Mar 2025 · Biocon Pharma Inc · Class II
Failed dissolution specifications: lower than specifications - Mar 2025 · Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA · Class II
CGMP Deviations - Mar 2025 · Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA · Class II
CGMP Deviations - Jun 2024 · Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA · Class II
Failed Dissolution Specifications: results below specifications - Mar 2023 · Northwind Pharmaceuticals LLC · Class II
CGMP Deviations - 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.