How to pay the least
Ask for the cash price
Generic meperidine
No pharmacy we check posts a price for it.
- Ask your pharmacy for the cash price of generic meperidine.Find pharmacies near you
- Ask one or two other pharmacies too. Cash prices for the same generic can differ a lot from store to store.
A regular generic has the same active ingredient as Demerol, and the FDA requires it to work the same way.
Compare every option
Details for each option
Brand nameNo maker’s card
We didn’t find a savings card or cash price from Demerol’s maker. Ask the pharmacy for Demerol’s cash price. With insurance, ask what your plan charges.
Authorized genericNot sold
There isn’t one. An authorized generic is Demerol itself, from the same company, sold without the brand name, and usually for less. A regular generic is sold, with the same active ingredient: ask the pharmacy for its price.
Regular genericWho makes it
One company sells a generic of Demerol that the FDA rates a substitute. A pharmacy fills whichever one it stocks. To get a certain maker, ask for it by name; most pharmacies can order it in a day or two.
It’s mostly filled by specialty pharmacies. Your prescriber’s office or insurer can tell you which one to use.
-
Hikma PharmaceuticalsAll 2 strengths
Made by West-Ward Pharmaceuticals International
How it looks, what’s in it, NDCs
25 mg/mL
Package NDC Carton of 25 mL 0641-6052-25 50 mg/mL
Package NDC Carton of 25 mL 0641-6053-25 100 mg/mL
Package NDC Carton of 25 mL 0641-6054-25 Inactive ingredients: acetic acid, sodium acetate, water
Who sells it: FDA and Medicaid records, updated weekly. Each maker’s page, card and program is from its own site.
What to say at the pharmacy
“Before you fill my Demerol, can you tell me what I’d pay for the brand and for a generic?”
Paying cash? Ask for each one’s cash price. With insurance, ask what your plan charges for each.
What it’s used for
- Severe pain that needs an opioid
- Before surgery and along with anesthesia
- Pain relief during childbirth
What the FDA label says
DEMEROL Injection is indicated for preoperative medication, support of anesthesia, for obstetrical analgesia, and for the management of pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic and for which alternative treatments are inadequate.
Limitations of Use
Because of the risks of addiction, abuse, misuse, overdose, and death, which can occur at any dosage or duration and persist over the course of therapy, reserve opioid analgesics, including DEMEROL Injection, for use in patients for whom alternative treatment options are ineffective, not tolerated, or would be otherwise inadequate to provide sufficient management of pain.
Use of DEMEROL Injection for an extended period of time may increase the risk of toxicity (e.g., seizures) from the accumulation of the meperidine metabolite, normeperidine.
Source: the FDA label for Demerol (Hospira, Inc.), July 20, 2026. Full label on DailyMed
Good to know
- A regular generic may look different from Demerol. The FDA requires it to work the same way.
- We didn’t find a savings card from Demerol’s maker.
- Don’t stop or change a medicine without talking to your pharmacist or prescriber.
Prices change: confirm with the pharmacy before you fill. drugalt.com/drug/demerol/