Bisacodyl

Drug Usage Statistics, United States, 2014 - 2023

Bisacodyl Summary for 2023

Top drug rank #293 ( 22)
Estimated number of prescriptions in the United States (2023) 481,188
Estimated number of patients in the United States (2023) 210,150
 
Average total drug cost (USD)  
Per prescription $2.92
Per day of therapy $1.97/day
Average out-of-pocket cost (USD)  
Per prescription $1.23
Per day of therapy $1.93/day

Total Prescriptions and Patients Per Year (2014 - 2023)

Rank of Top Drugs Over Time

"Rank" refers to the frequency that a given medication is prescribed within a calendar year compared to all other medications. A rank of "4" would indicate that the medication was the fourth most commonly prescribed medication.

Year Rank Change
2014 343  14
2015 377  34
2016 394  17
2017 359  35
2018 330  29
Year Rank Change
2019 337  7
2020 378  41
2021 315  63
2022 315 0
2023 293  22

Drug Cost Over Time (2014 - 2023)

  • Cost Per Prescription Fill: Average cost per filled prescription regardless of how many days of therapy the prescription is filled for (e.g. 10 days, 30 days, 90 days, etc.)
  • Cost per Day of Therapy: The average cost per prescription fill divided by the days of therapy. For example, a 10-day antibiotic course costing $30 would be $3 per day. Similarly, a 30-day supply of an oral antihypertensive costing $30 would be $1 per day.

  • Total cost: The average total cost of the medication including the out-of-pocket cost (see below) plus the amount paid by other parties (Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, Veterans Administration, TRICARE, other state/federal sources, Worker's compensation, and other miscellaneous sources)
  • Out-of-pocket cost: The average payment made by the patient which may include deductibles, coinsurance, copayments, or the cash price paid without insurance coverage.

Cost Per Prescription Fill (USD)

Cost Per Day of Therapy (USD/day)

Distribution of Dispensed Dosage Forms (2023)

Dosage Form Strength % of Dispensed Products
Tablet/capsule 5 mg 61.9%
Suppository 10 mg 38.1%

Distribution of Days Supplied (2023)

"Days supply" is defined as the number of days that a prescription should last. For example, a prescription of 60 tablets that is taken twice daily has a day supply of 30 days.

Related Drugs

Drug Name Total Prescriptions (2023)
Bisacodyl (this drug) 481,189
Anhydrous Citric Acid; Magnesium Oxide; Sodium Picosulfate 9,111

Therapeutic Classes

Drug Synonyms

Drug synonyms are used during the sanitation and standardization process of "cleaning" the original data source (MEPS). Occassionally, brand names may be listed below that are no longer on the market or are very infrequently used.

Brand Name Synonyms
  • Avedana Gentle Laxative
  • Bisacodyl Laxative
  • C-lax Laxative
  • Conlax
  • Cvs Gentle Laxative
  • Discount Drugmart Gentle Laxative
  • Dollar General Gentle Laxative
  • Dulcolax Laxative
  • Dulcolax Pink Stimulant Laxative
  • Dulcolax Simulant Laxative
  • Dulcolax Stimulant Laxative
  • Extra Gentle Laxative
  • Fleet
  • Foster And Thrive Gentle Laxative
  • Gentle Laxative
  • Gentle Overnight Laxative
  • Good Neighbor Pharmacy Gentle Laxative
  • Good Remedies Gentle Laxative
  • Heb Gentle Laxative
  • Laxative
  • Laxative For Women
  • Laxomil
  • Meijer Gentle Laxative
  • Onelax
  • Proctozone-b
  • Publix
  • Publix Women
  • Right Remedies Overnight Laxative
  • Rite-aid Gentle Laxative
  • Simpex Bisacodyl Laxative
  • Stimulant Laxative
  • Stimulant Laxative Enteric Coated
  • Stratuscare Bisacodyl
  • Unit Dose Bisacodyl
  • UP And UP Gentle Laxative
  • Walgreens Gentle Laxative
  • Womens Gentle Laxative
  • Womens Laxative
  • Womens Laxative Enteric Coated
Generic Drug Synonyms and Salts
  • Bisacodyl

FDA Approval Information

Established Pharmacologic Class (EPC): Stimulant Laxative
Initial FDA approval date: 7/16/2010
First FDA applicant: Discn
First dosage form: For Solution, Tablet, Delayed Release (oral)

Prescription data source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) 2014-2023. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Rockville, MD. ClinCalc DrugStats Database version 2025.08. Read more about the ClinCalc DrugStats database.

All ClinCalc DrugStats figures and graphs on this page are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Which of these drugs is contraindicated in pregnancy? The Top 250 Drugs by ClinCalc Academy
 
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Updated Apr 15, 2025
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