Drug data · shortage, price, volume
Rifampin capsules: 58 months on the FDA shortage list while the generic benchmark price fell 3% since 2021
The FDA says supply is short. The pharmacy benchmark says the generic capsule now costs $0.672 each, against $1.06 in 2014. Both are true, and they measure different things: availability on one side, the average price pharmacies pay on the other.
- The capsule has been on the FDA list continuously since January 2022, 58 months.
- Only 17% of shortage listings since 2014 have lasted this long. The median listing lasts 20 months.
- A generic 300 mg capsule costs pharmacies $0.672 on the NADAC benchmark in October 2026, 3% below its 2021 median.
- Medicaid paid for 18,666 capsule prescriptions in Q4 2025, 104% more than in Q4 2021. Fills rose across a stretch in which the capsule was listed as short in 58 of 58 months.
Not medical advice. This page reports public records about supply and pharmacy cost. Ask a pharmacist or prescriber about your own medication.
Three clocks on one timeline
Each lane uses the same monthly axis, so you can read across: when the FDA listed the capsule, what pharmacies were paying, and how many Medicaid prescriptions were filled.
Swipe the chart sideways to see all 13 years.
How long do shortages last?
Each step is a drop in the share of FDA shortage listings still running. The dot is this drug.
What a pharmacy pays per unit
NADAC is the average price retail pharmacies pay, per capsule.
Which forms are short
| Form | Listed now | Months listed | FDA records (2026-10-27) |
|---|---|---|---|
| capsule | Yes, since January 2022 | 58 | 4 unavailable, 5 available (9 records) |
Price by strength
| Strength | Now | 2021 median | First month | Now vs 2021 | History | NDCs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 150 mg | $0.982 | $0.811 | $0.9042014-01 | +21% | 6 | |
| 300 mg | $0.672 | $0.695 | $1.062014-01 | -3% | 8 |
Questions
Is Rifampin still in shortage?
On the FDA list as of 2026-10-27, the capsule is listed under 9 presentations: 4 unavailable, 0 with limited availability and 5 available. It has been continuously listed since January 2022. FDA says not to rely on the list for medical care; ask a pharmacist.
Did the shortage raise the pharmacy price?
Not in the benchmark. The NADAC survey average for a generic 300 mg capsule is $0.672 in October 2026, 3% below its 2021 median and 37% below January 2014. NADAC is a national average of retail pharmacy invoices, so it measures what pharmacies pay on average, not what any one patient was charged.
Did Medicaid fills fall during the shortage?
No. CMS State Drug Utilization Data shows 18,666 Medicaid-paid capsule prescriptions in Q4 2025, 104% more than in Q4 2021 (9,137). Those counts are a floor because CMS suppresses small cells, they cover Medicaid only and move with Medicaid enrollment, and they count prescriptions that were filled, not demand that went unmet. A change in fills is not by itself evidence of a shortage.
What does a pharmacy pay for 30 generic 300 mg capsules?
About $20.15 on the NADAC benchmark ($0.672 per capsule times 30). That is acquisition cost, not a retail price: it excludes dispensing fees, discounts and rebates.
Cite this page
Figures are calculated from U.S. federal sources (see Data terms below) and rebuilt from dated snapshots. Cite it as:
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- FDA Drug Shortages list and the openFDA drug shortages API, snapshot 2026-10-27.
- Internet Archive captures of the FDA list page, 2014 to 2026, for monthly history (18 months have no usable capture).
- CMS NADAC weekly acquisition cost datasets, 2013 to 2026 (one dataset per year on data.medicaid.gov). Brand and generic follow CMS's own classification for rate setting.
- CMS State Drug Utilization Data, 2014 to 2026.
- openFDA NDC directory for identifiers.
Data terms. Every source above is published by a U.S. federal agency (CMS or FDA). CMS's data site labels its datasets inconsistently: of the 14 NADAC years, 5 carry the "public domain" label and 9 the "U.S. government works" label; of the 14 State Drug Utilization Data years, 6 carry the "public domain" label and 8 the "U.S. government works" label. We record each dataset's label verbatim and cite the source for every figure. Figures on this page are OmniRx calculations from those datasets, not statements by CMS or FDA, and no agency endorses this page.