Pharmacies now pay about 53% less for common generics than in 2014. 69 drugs are still in short supply.
GxRadar follows the medicines most Americans fill, using the federal government's own records: FDA's recall reports, its shortage list and approval files, and the weekly CMS survey of what pharmacies pay. The numbers below update from those sources every day.
What pharmacies pay for 43 common generics, indexed
January 2014 = 100 · CMS NADACGeometric mean of each drug's monthly per-unit NADAC relative to January 2014. NADAC is an acquisition cost, not the price a patient pays. How the index is built.
A decade at the pharmacy counter
Five charts from the weekly CMS survey of what pharmacies pay. Scroll to step through them.
Source: CMS NADAC, generic rows, monthly. Acquisition cost, not the price a patient pays.
Most common generics cost pharmacies far less than they did in 2014
GxRadar tracks 43 widely filled generics that CMS priced in January 2014. Taken together, what pharmacies pay for them has roughly halved, with the steepest drops in 2016 and again after 2022. How the index is built.
The antibiotic that cost more than a dollar a pill
In November 2013, the NADAC for one 100 mg doxycycline hyclate capsule was $3.36, near the height of the 2013–2014 price spike that federal auditors later studied. By October 2026 it was $0.11, a 97% fall. Doxycycline data · The story.
What generic entry does to a price
Generic rosuvastatin first shows up in the NADAC files in July 2016 at $7.07 per 10 mg tablet. Twelve months later the figure was $0.16. Today it is $0.036. Rosuvastatin data · Why prices fall after entry.
A daily pill that rose before it fell
The 50 mcg tablet peaked at $0.38 in February 2015. By October 2026 pharmacies were paying $0.040, 89% below that peak. Levothyroxine data.
Not everything got cheaper
Furosemide 40 mg went the other way. Its NADAC was $0.011 in November 2013, peaked at $0.036 in November 2017, and stood at $0.029 last month, still about 159% above where it started. Pennies per tablet, but a reminder that the trend is not one-way. Furosemide data · Generics that got more expensive.
Reporting
Explainers and data stories, each with inline citations to the primary source.
What pharmacies paid for atorvastatin, 2013 to 2026
Federal survey data show the pharmacy cost of a generic 20 mg atorvastatin tablet fell from 18.3 cents in November 2013 to 2.8 cents in October 2026. The year-by-year record, and the FDA approvals behind it.
The longest-running drug shortages
Six drugs on FDA's current shortage list have been there for more than 10 years. GxRadar ranked all 69 current listings by first-posted date and looked at what they have in common.
Drug recalls by the numbers
GxRadar counted all 18,076 FDA drug recall records from mid-2012 to October 2026 by year, class, event and reason. A handful of giant recall events explain most of the swings.
Doxycycline's 2013 price spike and the decade-long fall that followed
In late 2013 pharmacies paid $3.36 for one generic doxycycline capsule. By October 2026 they paid 11 cents. What federal records say about the spike, and how slowly the price came back down.
Why drug shortages happen
New US drug shortages fell from 251 in 2011 to four in 2025, yet old ones linger for years. FDA's 2019 root-cause analysis and later HHS research explain why cheap generic drugs run short and stay short.
How a generic drug gets approved
Every US generic goes through an Abbreviated New Drug Application. What goes into one, how FDA reviews it, the GDUFA III deadlines, and why a finished review can still end in a tentative approval.
What NADAC measures, and what it leaves out
NADAC is the federal estimate of what retail pharmacies pay for a drug. Who publishes it, how the invoice survey works, how Medicaid uses it, and why it is not the price a patient pays.
How to ask for the cash price at the pharmacy
Two 2018 federal laws let pharmacists tell you when paying without insurance costs less. What the laws say, what pharmacies pay for common generics, and the questions that get you both prices.
Why generic prices fall as competitors enter
One generic maker cuts the brand price by about 39 percent; six or more cut it by over 95 percent. FDA's 2019 study, GAO data and GxRadar's NADAC files show how steep the curve is and why.
The market in four charts
Built from FDA and CMS files. Hover for exact values or open the table under each chart.
Drug recall records by year and class
openFDA enforcementShow as table
| Year | Class I | Class II | Class III |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 19 | 349 | 66 |
| 2013 | 71 | 1147 | 159 |
| 2014 | 152 | 1258 | 152 |
| 2015 | 105 | 1780 | 135 |
| 2016 | 130 | 963 | 161 |
| 2017 | 66 | 827 | 180 |
| 2018 | 107 | 1166 | 153 |
| 2019 | 511 | 1497 | 144 |
| 2020 | 109 | 824 | 102 |
| 2021 | 135 | 779 | 102 |
| 2022 | 88 | 1167 | 94 |
| 2023 | 67 | 1096 | 89 |
| 2024 | 106 | 483 | 68 |
| 2025 | 49 | 655 | 61 |
| 2026 | 38 | 611 | 54 |
2026 is a partial year. One recall event can produce many records, one per product or lot. What the recall data show.
Why drugs get recalled
2012–2026Recall records grouped by the reason FDA published, keyword-classified by GxRadar.
Show as table
| Reason | Records |
|---|---|
| Sterility / contamination | 9273 |
| cGMP deviations | 2299 |
| Labeling or packaging error | 1906 |
| Impurities (e.g. nitrosamines) | 1369 |
| Other | 1021 |
| Potency out of spec | 723 |
| Undeclared or unapproved ingredient | 556 |
| Failed specifications (other) | 521 |
| Dissolution failure | 408 |
Current shortages by therapeutic area
FDAA drug can sit in more than one area.
Show as table
| Therapeutic area | Drugs |
|---|---|
| Pediatric | 17 |
| Analgesia/Addiction | 11 |
| Gastroenterology | 10 |
| Anesthesia | 10 |
| Cardiovascular | 9 |
| Other | 9 |
| Neurology | 8 |
| Oncology | 8 |
| Endocrinology/Metabolism | 8 |
| Psychiatry | 7 |
| Anti-Infective | 7 |
| Rheumatology | 4 |
Original generic approvals per year
Drugs@FDA · 1984–2026Original ANDA approvals by approval year, from the Hatch-Waxman Act onward.
Show as table
| Year | ANDA approvals |
|---|---|
| 1984 | 207 |
| 1985 | 291 |
| 1986 | 363 |
| 1987 | 389 |
| 1988 | 359 |
| 1989 | 147 |
| 1990 | 59 |
| 1991 | 165 |
| 1992 | 152 |
| 1993 | 153 |
| 1994 | 169 |
| 1995 | 182 |
| 1996 | 205 |
| 1997 | 255 |
| 1998 | 225 |
| 1999 | 185 |
| 2000 | 243 |
| 2001 | 218 |
| 2002 | 316 |
| 2003 | 256 |
| 2004 | 366 |
| 2005 | 332 |
| 2006 | 350 |
| 2007 | 470 |
| 2008 | 458 |
| 2009 | 457 |
| 2010 | 416 |
| 2011 | 457 |
| 2012 | 503 |
| 2013 | 406 |
| 2014 | 418 |
| 2015 | 561 |
| 2016 | 610 |
| 2017 | 833 |
| 2018 | 804 |
| 2019 | 819 |
| 2020 | 743 |
| 2021 | 624 |
| 2022 | 733 |
| 2023 | 754 |
| 2024 | 712 |
| 2025 | 648 |
| 2026 | 575 |
Price moves
Five-year change in NADAC, the average acquisition cost reported by retail pharmacies to CMS.
Largest five-year declines
| Levothyroxine 50 mcg tablet | -79% |
| Valsartan 160 mg tablet | -62% |
| Digoxin 125 mcg tablet | -56% |
| Losartan 50 mg tablet | -54% |
| Nitrofurantoin monohydrate/macro 100 mg | -52% |
Largest five-year increases
| Amoxicillin 500 mg capsule | +16% |
| Simvastatin 20 mg tablet | +15% |
| Citalopram 20 mg tablet | +2% |
| Cephalexin 500 mg capsule | -2% |
| Duloxetine DR 60 mg capsule | -5% |
Source: CMS NADAC weekly files, GxRadar calculation · data as of 2026-10. Figures can change and may contain errors in the source data. Check the original source before relying on them.
Questions worth asking at the pharmacy counter
A cash price can be lower than a copay, the same generic can cost very different amounts at two pharmacies in one town, and a 90-day fill sometimes lowers the cost per pill. Our guides explain how that pricing works and what you can ask. They don't tell you what to take.
Search the federal pharmacy registry by ZIP code
Pharmacies with a National Provider Identifier, listed A–Z with no ranking.
Not health advice. GxRadar is for general information only. Nothing here is medical, pharmacy, legal or financial advice. Do not start, stop or change any medicine based on this site. Talk to your pharmacist or prescriber about your own situation.