Benzodiazepine Prescribing in West Virginia
Medicare Part D, 2013–2024.
Benzodiazepine prescribing in West Virginia fell 31.5% between 2013 and 2024 — a steeper fall than the country as a whole. In 2024 the state recorded 326,398 Medicare Part D benzodiazepine claims across 54,230 patients, an average of 6.02 fills per patient per year, which ranks 1 of 51 states. Alprazolam accounts for 34.7% of it.
West Virginia over twelve years
Which benzodiazepines West Virginia prescribes
| Drug | Claims 2024 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Alprazolam | 113,293 | 34.7% |
| Lorazepam | 86,880 | 26.6% |
| Clonazepam | 77,895 | 23.9% |
| Diazepam | 33,524 | 10.3% |
| Temazepam | 12,407 | 3.8% |
Psychiatric prescribers in West Virginia
119 psychiatric prescribers in West Virginia appear in the 2024 Medicare Part D data with benzodiazepine claims. 20 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mahija KottapalliPsychiatry | Hurricane | 717 | 16 | -97.8% |
| Rashmi KumarPsychiatry | Huntington | 584 | 18 | -96.9% |
| Edward MiltenbergerPsychiatry | Morgantown | 266 | 19 | -92.9% |
| Debra StultzPsychiatry | Barboursville | 834 | 65 | -92.2% |
| Derek GoffNeuropsychiatry | Huntington | 244 | 21 | -91.4% |
| Meredith BentleyPsychiatry | Huntington | 147 | 15 | -89.8% |
| Nasreen DarPsychiatry | Princeton | 1,024 | 106 | -89.6% |
| Richard AjayiPsychiatry | Weirton | 121 | 13 | -89.3% |
| Maria MorenoPsychiatry | Wheeling | 82 | 12 | -85.4% |
| Rownak AfrozPsychiatry | Huntington | 203 | 33 | -83.7% |
| Dhashaini NadarajahPsychiatry | South Charleston | 85 | 15 | -82.4% |
| Jordan GaalPsychiatry | Huntington | 229 | 41 | -82.1% |
| Lisa Rudolph-WatsonPsychiatry | Morgantown | 60 | 13 | -78.3% |
| Victor NeasePsychiatry | Charleston | 165 | 39 | -76.4% |
| Steven CorderPsychiatry | Wheeling | 260 | 69 | -73.5% |
| Joseph GuthriePsychiatry | Bluefield | 194 | 52 | -73.2% |
| Jeffry GeePsychiatry | Bluefield | 635 | 203 | -68% |
| Rajdip BarmanPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 86 | 28 | -67.4% |
| Emily BoothePsychiatry | Bluefield | 96 | 35 | -63.5% |
| Noor KaziPsychiatry | Winfield | 195 | 85 | -56.4% |
| Michael HackmanPsychiatry | Huntington | 732 | 402 | -45.1% |
| Krista RhodesPsychiatry | Charleston | 600 | 330 | -45% |
| Dilip ChandranPsychiatry | Elkins | 482 | 270 | -44% |
| Ali AsgharPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 468 | 272 | -41.9% |
| Safiullah SyedPsychiatry | Beckley | 1,126 | 693 | -38.5% |
| Deanann FarrisPsychiatry | Lewisburg | 821 | 530 | -35.4% |
| Jeff PriddyPsychiatry | Charleston | 86 | 56 | -34.9% |
| Omar HasanPsychiatry | Beckley | 2,142 | 1,408 | -34.3% |
| Kambiz SoleymaniPsychiatry | Huntington | 1,480 | 1,057 | -28.6% |
| Alfredo AguirrePsychiatry | Wheeling | 227 | 164 | -27.8% |
| Kenneth FinkPsychiatry | Huntington | 67 | 49 | -26.9% |
| Ahmed FaheemPsychiatry | Beckley | 1,755 | 1,286 | -26.7% |
| Rozelle WalkerPsychiatry | Charleston | 369 | 273 | -26% |
| Romika DharGeriatric Psychiatry | Morgantown | 27 | 20 | -25.9% |
| Tiffany SparksPsychiatry | Charleston | 264 | 201 | -23.9% |
| Thomas WilliamsPsychiatry | Charleston | 357 | 275 | -23% |
| Alina Vrinceanu-HammPsychiatry | Princeton | 960 | 749 | -22% |
| Kevin JunkinsPsychiatry & Neurology | Bridgeport | 138 | 109 | -21% |
| Nika RazavipourPsychiatry | Wayne | 1,139 | 901 | -20.9% |
| Ted ThorntonPsychiatry | Charleston | 468 | 378 | -19.2% |
| Cheryl HillPsychiatry | Morgantown | 16 | 13 | -18.8% |
| Daniel ElswickPsychiatry | Morgantown | 43 | 37 | -14% |
| Carol FreasPsychiatry | Charleston | 74 | 64 | -13.5% |
| David HumphreysPsychiatry | Barboursville | 1,583 | 1,392 | -12.1% |
| Rhonda HammPsychiatry | Lewisburg | 283 | 257 | -9.2% |
| Antonio Garcia MerinoPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 426 | 403 | -5.4% |
| Elizabeth Collier SizemorePsychiatry & Neurology | Parkersburg | 121 | 119 | -1.7% |
| Suzanne HolroydPsychiatry | Huntington | 55 | 55 | 0% |
| Kiran DevarajPsychiatry | Charleston | 14 | 14 | 0% |
| Prabhjot DeolPsychiatry | Weirton | 1,285 | 1,323 | +3% |
| James AbelPsychiatry | Fairmont | 631 | 660 | +4.6% |
| Ryan CookPsychiatry | Charleston | 133 | 146 | +9.8% |
| Alber GhobrialPsychiatry | Glen Dale | 318 | 351 | +10.4% |
| Lawrence KellyPsychiatry | Charleston | 798 | 898 | +12.5% |
| John HuttonPsychiatry | South Charleston | 525 | 592 | +12.8% |
| Safwat AttiaPsychiatry | Buckhannon | 182 | 208 | +14.3% |
| Brandon WorkmanPsychiatry | Beckley | 1,116 | 1,284 | +15.1% |
| Tara RayPsychiatry & Neurology | South Charleston | 626 | 739 | +18.1% |
| Daniel ThistlethwaitePsychiatry | South Charleston | 1,297 | 1,537 | +18.5% |
| Russell VoltinPsychiatry | South Charleston | 1,068 | 1,281 | +19.9% |
| Timothy ThistlethwaitePsychiatry | Charleston | 642 | 771 | +20.1% |
| Fezan RizviPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 557 | 702 | +26% |
| Shahnoor KhanPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 154 | 200 | +29.9% |
| Simon McclurePsychiatry | Bridgeport | 3,362 | 4,550 | +35.3% |
| Edward BezPsychiatry | Beckley | 956 | 1,314 | +37.4% |
| Kelly LoganPsychiatry & Neurology | Hurricane | 195 | 296 | +51.8% |
| Hassan JafaryPsychiatry | Beckley | 1,711 | 2,626 | +53.5% |
| Douglas EitelPsychiatry | Alderson | 283 | 440 | +55.5% |
| Paul PapadimitriouPsychiatry | Wheeling | 450 | 738 | +64% |
| Kaleena ChilcotePsychiatry | Morgantown | 52 | 87 | +67.3% |
| Yahia HomsiPsychiatry | Charleston | 148 | 250 | +68.9% |
| Amy WehrlePsychiatry | South Charleston | 264 | 457 | +73.1% |
| Muhammad SalmanPsychiatry | Bridgeport | 347 | 606 | +74.6% |
| Walter ByrdPsychiatry | Morgantown | 66 | 122 | +84.8% |
| Leslie ChandelPsychiatry | Princeton | 167 | 323 | +93.4% |
| Glenn McclaughertyNeuropsychiatry | Martinsburg | 115 | 227 | +97.4% |
| Helen RyuPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 11 | 23 | +109.1% |
| Elizabeth McclellanPsychiatry | Clendenin | 105 | 221 | +110.5% |
| Scott GilchristPsychiatry | Weston | 235 | 547 | +132.8% |
| Yasha RastgarPsychiatry & Neurology | Morgantown | 26 | 71 | +173.1% |
| Joseph JurandPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 57 | 174 | +205.3% |
| Rachel SowardsPsychiatry | Scott Depot | 271 | 946 | +249.1% |
| Cristina GoldizenPsychiatry | Petersburg | 186 | 702 | +277.4% |
| Cheryl FrancePsychiatry | Morgantown | 30 | 121 | +303.3% |
| Cindy DuganPsychiatry | Parkersburg | 84 | 354 | +321.4% |
| Jawad ZafarPsychiatry | Beckley | 113 | 640 | +466.4% |
| April BaisdenPsychiatry | Scott Depot | 29 | 206 | +610.3% |
| Richard MullinPsychiatry | Morgantown | 33 | 279 | +745.5% |
| Tayyab ParachaPsychiatry | Martinsburg | 11 | 95 | +763.6% |
| Michael Ang-RabanesPsychiatry | Morgantown | 16 | 165 | +931.2% |
| Alvaro GutierrezPsychiatry & Neurology | Morgantown | — | 266 | — |
| Benjamin HinesPsychiatry & Neurology | Bridgeport | — | 169 | — |
| Alexandra ManskerPsychiatry & Neurology | Huntington | — | 154 | — |
| Sara HenleyPsychiatry | Charleston | — | 109 | — |
| Joseph NewmanPsychiatry | Huntington | — | 107 | — |
| Michael BartolacPsychiatry & Neurology | Charleston | — | 102 | — |
| Stephanie GaoPsychiatry & Neurology | Huntington | — | 96 | — |
| Jacob LyonAddiction Medicine | Huntington | — | 87 | — |
| Dewey MurphyPsychiatry | Huntington | — | 74 | — |
| Samuel RichardsonPsychiatry & Neurology | Morgantown | — | 69 | — |
| Christopher FeghaliPsychiatry & Neurology | Morgantown | — | 67 | — |
| Jeremy HusteadPsychiatry | Morgantown | — | 52 | — |
| Ian ThistlethwaitePsychiatry | Charleston | — | 45 | — |
| Caitlin CorbittPsychiatry | Clarksburg | — | 44 | — |
| Auvid MomenPsychiatry | Clarksburg | — | 43 | — |
| Sanjay MasilamaniPsychiatry | Scott Depot | — | 34 | — |
| Mohit BhardwajPsychiatry | Huntington | — | 30 | — |
| George CostinPsychiatry | Weston | — | 22 | — |
| Camille LeonPsychiatry & Neurology | Morgantown | — | 19 | — |
| Mallory MorrisPsychiatry | Huntington | — | 19 | — |
| Lauren MaylePsychiatry | Morgantown | — | 17 | — |
| Cynthia PratherPsychiatry | Parkersburg | — | 16 | — |
| Jeremiah HopkinsPsychiatry | Morgantown | — | 12 | — |
| Heidi JohnsonPsychiatry | Huntington | — | 12 | — |
| Krista UlissePsychiatry | Morgantown | — | 12 | — |
| Rebekkah BrownPsychiatry | Charleston | — | 11 | — |
| Courtney KassarPsychiatry | Charleston | — | 11 | — |
| Lauren DemarcoPsychiatry | Elkins | — | 11 | — |
| Melissa MoodyPsychiatry | Charleston | 19 | 485 | +2452.6% |
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 West Virginia
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 West Virginia?
It fell 31.5% between 2013 and 2024 in Medicare Part D — a steeper fall than the country as a whole, where prescribing fell 12.9%. In 2024, West Virginia recorded 326,398 benzodiazepine claims across 54,230 patients.
How does West Virginia compare to other states?
West Virginia ranks 1 of 51 for prescribing intensity, at 6.02 benzodiazepine fills per patient per year, and 3 of 51 for the size of its decline since 2013 (1 being the steepest fall).
Which benzodiazepine is prescribed most in West Virginia?
Alprazolam, at 113,293 claims — 34.7% of the state's benzodiazepine prescribing in 2024. Next are Lorazepam (26.6%) and Clonazepam (23.9%).
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.