Benzodiazepine Prescribing in District of Columbia
Medicare Part D, 2013–2024.
Benzodiazepine prescribing in District of Columbia rose 0.4% between 2013 and 2024 — a slower fall than the country as a whole. In 2024 the state recorded 33,184 Medicare Part D benzodiazepine claims across 10,206 patients, an average of 3.25 fills per patient per year, which ranks 51 of 51 states. Clonazepam accounts for 32.6% of it.
District of Columbia over twelve years
Which benzodiazepines District of Columbia prescribes
| Drug | Claims 2024 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Clonazepam | 10,830 | 32.6% |
| Alprazolam | 8,919 | 26.9% |
| Lorazepam | 8,404 | 25.3% |
| Diazepam | 4,117 | 12.4% |
| Temazepam | 656 | 2% |
Psychiatric prescribers in District of Columbia
122 psychiatric prescribers in District of Columbia appear in the 2024 Medicare Part D data with benzodiazepine claims. 21 of them recorded at least a 50% fall in benzodiazepine claims since 2019. Sorted by change, largest reduction first.
This is a record, not a recommendation. A fall in Medicare benzodiazepine claims has many possible explanations — a changing patient panel, retirement, a shift to another payer, or simply dropping below the threshold CMS publishes. It does not establish that a prescriber supports tapering, and a low number does not mean they will take you as a patient. Use it as one input, then ask the five vetting questions.
| Prescriber | City | 2019 | 2024 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christine LepoutrePsychiatry | Washington | 313 | 17 | -94.6% |
| Joel CohenPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 126 | 19 | -84.9% |
| Nischal SagarPsychiatry | Washington | 238 | 38 | -84% |
| Giovanna MorenaPsychiatry | Washington | 181 | 29 | -84% |
| Gerald DonovanPsychiatry | Washington | 377 | 62 | -83.6% |
| Bernard VittonePsychiatry | Washington | 144 | 27 | -81.2% |
| Frank GenovaPsychiatry | Washington | 59 | 12 | -79.7% |
| Arda KasaciPsychiatry | Washington | 100 | 22 | -78% |
| Philip SeibelPsychiatry | Washington | 90 | 21 | -76.7% |
| Anca ZinnesPsychiatry | Washington | 164 | 49 | -70.1% |
| Walter BlandPsychiatry | Washington | 42 | 13 | -69% |
| Julia FrankPsychiatry | Washington | 105 | 34 | -67.6% |
| Linda WestPsychiatry | Washington | 157 | 54 | -65.6% |
| Richard RatnerPsychiatry | Washington | 45 | 16 | -64.4% |
| Celia OliveiraPsychiatry | Washington | 39 | 14 | -64.1% |
| Michael SilverPsychiatry | Washington | 36 | 14 | -61.1% |
| Catherine MayPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 33 | 13 | -60.6% |
| Ikechi NnawuchiPsychiatry | Washington | 317 | 134 | -57.7% |
| Margaret ClancyPsychiatry | Washington | 70 | 30 | -57.1% |
| Oxana JourkivNeuropsychiatry | Washington | 31 | 15 | -51.6% |
| Evaristus NwuliaPsychiatry | Washington | 34 | 17 | -50% |
| Erminia ScarcellaPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 23 | 12 | -47.8% |
| Frederick JacobsenPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 50 | 28 | -44% |
| Sirajul HasanPsychiatry | Washington | 416 | 236 | -43.3% |
| Gagan NijjarPsychiatry | Washington | 88 | 52 | -40.9% |
| Steven GilbertPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 21 | 13 | -38.1% |
| Kenneth UllmanPsychiatry | Nw Washington | 93 | 64 | -31.2% |
| Risa FishmanPsychiatry | Washington | 155 | 112 | -27.7% |
| Tanya AlimPsychiatry | Washington | 120 | 88 | -26.7% |
| Todd AugustusPsychiatry | Washington | 169 | 124 | -26.6% |
| Richard VirgilPsychiatry | Washington | 59 | 44 | -25.4% |
| Stephen PetersonPsychiatry | Washington | 226 | 174 | -23% |
| Vivienne GomesPsychiatry | Washington | 88 | 68 | -22.7% |
| Kumudini AttanagodaPsychiatry | Washington | 109 | 88 | -19.3% |
| Barry FisherPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 13 | 11 | -15.4% |
| Jay SalpekarPsychiatry | Washington | 17 | 15 | -11.8% |
| Asim HaracicPsychiatry | Washington | 352 | 311 | -11.6% |
| Gary MatthewsPsychiatry | Washington | 302 | 277 | -8.3% |
| Leslie RokoskePsychiatry | Washington | 72 | 70 | -2.8% |
| Robert KeislingPsychiatry | Washington | 230 | 230 | 0% |
| Robert KetchamPsychiatry | Washington | 166 | 168 | +1.2% |
| Anthony DrobnickPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 147 | 149 | +1.4% |
| Ejaz ShamimPsychiatry | Washington | 54 | 56 | +3.7% |
| Ajirioghene IgbidePsychiatry | Washington | 352 | 367 | +4.3% |
| David GardnerPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 42 | 44 | +4.8% |
| David AultPsychiatry | Washington | 107 | 115 | +7.5% |
| Jerrold O'RourkePsychiatry | Washington | 88 | 96 | +9.1% |
| John LivingoodPsychiatry | Washington | 153 | 168 | +9.8% |
| James LettenbergerPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 18 | 20 | +11.1% |
| Frederick SummersPsychiatry | Washington | 105 | 121 | +15.2% |
| Igor VolkovPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 40 | 53 | +32.5% |
| Cristina SecareaPsychiatry | Washington | 20 | 27 | +35% |
| Mark RossePsychiatry | Washington | 25 | 34 | +36% |
| Navin ReddyPsychiatry | Washington | 11 | 15 | +36.4% |
| Todd CoxPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 20 | 28 | +40% |
| Neill WilliamsPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 56 | 85 | +51.8% |
| Robert EmmaPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 75 | 115 | +53.3% |
| Judith NowakPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 11 | 17 | +54.5% |
| Adrian BrownPsychiatry | Washington | 15 | 24 | +60% |
| Makesha JoynerPsychiatry | Washington | 81 | 134 | +65.4% |
| Larry GrubbPsychiatry | Washington | 34 | 58 | +70.6% |
| James GriffithPsychiatry | Washington | 14 | 27 | +92.9% |
| Ni Ni KhinPsychiatry | Washington | 62 | 122 | +96.8% |
| David GermanPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 14 | 28 | +100% |
| Faheem MoghalPsychiatry | Washington | 46 | 101 | +119.6% |
| Christopher SantangeloPsychiatry | Washington | 50 | 125 | +150% |
| Hallie LightdalePsychiatry | Washington | 36 | 90 | +150% |
| Alvaro GuzmanPsychiatry | Washington | 88 | 224 | +154.5% |
| Ronald KoshesPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 89 | 229 | +157.3% |
| Richard ChefetzPsychiatry | Washington | 37 | 100 | +170.3% |
| Thomas ShaverPsychiatry | Washington | 53 | 147 | +177.4% |
| Robin BerlinPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 20 | 57 | +185% |
| Tracy DasPsychiatry | Washington | 49 | 160 | +226.5% |
| Beverly ReaderPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 17 | 66 | +288.2% |
| John MaloneyPsychiatry | Washington | 54 | 225 | +316.7% |
| Safaa KasemPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | 23 | 205 | +791.3% |
| Aneela KaziPsychiatry | Washington | 54 | 502 | +829.6% |
| Miraslava KhmuretsPsychiatry | Washington | 11 | 117 | +963.6% |
| Dwight KingPsychiatry | Washington | — | 490 | — |
| Suzanne BorkowskiPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 326 | — |
| Sushila ChelliahPsychiatry | Washington | — | 214 | — |
| Natasha HaddadPsychiatry | Washington | — | 192 | — |
| Daniel PustayPsychiatry | Washington | — | 86 | — |
| Mustafa KaghazwalaPsychiatry | Washington | — | 70 | — |
| Terick DoughmanPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 67 | — |
| Amarachi NwaijePsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 56 | — |
| Rajkaran SachdejPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 52 | — |
| Grace KimPsychiatry | Washington | — | 50 | — |
| Liliana BorenszteinPsychiatry | Washington | — | 45 | — |
| Elli NovatchevaPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 43 | — |
| Mary SalcedoPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 42 | — |
| Matthew SalmonNeuropsychiatry | Washington | — | 42 | — |
| Anam AhmedPsychiatry | Washington | — | 42 | — |
| Daniel PodellPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 36 | — |
| Christopher HoffmanPsychiatry | Washington | — | 36 | — |
| Mahjabeen IsmailPsychiatry | Washington | — | 33 | — |
| Rosario Nunez BritoPsychiatry | Washington | — | 32 | — |
| Emmanuel OniPsychiatry | Washington | — | 30 | — |
| Farah TabajaPsychiatry | Washington | — | 28 | — |
| Xiaoqing PengPsychiatry | Washington | — | 28 | — |
| Tuong ThaiPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 25 | — |
| Ronald HarmonPsychiatry | Washington | — | 25 | — |
| Lauren PerryPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 23 | — |
| Marc LevinePsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 21 | — |
| Neda KovacevicPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 20 | — |
| Sam GoodmanPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 20 | — |
| Melissa PeacePsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 20 | — |
| Laure ExpertonPsychiatry | Washington | — | 16 | — |
| Shaheja BandealyPsychiatry | Washington | — | 15 | — |
| Thomas KershawPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 15 | — |
| Edgar WoznicaPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 14 | — |
| Marilyn BenoitNeuropsychiatry | Washington | — | 14 | — |
| Flavia DesouzaPsychiatry | Washington | — | 14 | — |
| Nkemka EsiobuPsychiatry | Washington | — | 13 | — |
| Amit PatelPsychiatry | Washington | — | 13 | — |
| Leslie GoranssonNeuropsychiatry | Washington | — | 13 | — |
| Tejpal SinghNeuropsychiatry | Washington | — | 13 | — |
| Joseph JeralPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 12 | — |
| Louis BeckmanPsychiatry & Neurology | Washington | — | 12 | — |
| Cheryl CollinsNeuropsychiatry | Washington | — | 12 | — |
| Kathryn AbellPsychiatry | Washington | — | 12 | — |
| Kenneth SmothersPsychiatry | Washington | — | 11 | — |
Figures are reproduced from the CMS public use files without alteration. Clinicians who believe a row misstates their record can write to support@taperoffbenzos.com and we will check it against the source file and correct or remove it.
Finding a prescriber in District of Columbia
This data describes prescribing patterns; it does not tell you who will support a slow taper. For that, our guide to finding a benzo-wise prescriber compares every free provider directory that exists and lists the five questions that predict how a taper will go. If you already have a prescriber, the taper calculator generates a schedule to review with them.
Frequently asked questions
Is benzodiazepine prescribing rising or falling in District of Columbia?
It rose 0.4% between 2013 and 2024 in Medicare Part D — a slower fall than the country as a whole, where prescribing fell 12.9%. In 2024, District of Columbia recorded 33,184 benzodiazepine claims across 10,206 patients.
How does District of Columbia compare to other states?
District of Columbia ranks 51 of 51 for prescribing intensity, at 3.25 benzodiazepine fills per patient per year, and 44 of 51 for the size of its decline since 2013 (1 being the steepest fall).
Which benzodiazepine is prescribed most in District of Columbia?
Clonazepam, at 10,830 claims — 32.6% of the state's benzodiazepine prescribing in 2024. Next are Alprazolam (26.9%) and Lorazepam (25.3%).
Source
CMS Medicare Part D Prescribers public use files, data years 2013–2024 (US Government work, public domain). Medicare Part D only — it excludes commercial insurance and cash-pay, skews toward patients 65 and over, and suppresses cells of 10 or fewer claims. Full methodology and limitations are on the national page.