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How can I get free drug database APIs?

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anonymous

asked  Jul 23, 2020

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AltexSoft Team

answered  Jul 24, 2020

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Actually, there are many sources, we covered the main ones in the article here. Here’s an overview:
 
Start with openFDA - a government platform with tons of open source APIs on drugs, food, and devices. It returns information in JSON on product labels, National Drug Codes, and some unique info like reports on recall enforcements and adverse events.
 
DailyMed returns only data on drug labeling in JSON and XML formats and goes into a bit more detail than openFDA.
 
MedlinePlus aggregates data on patient health from over 1600 organizations and has tons of useful information about diseases and their use cases, complemented with images, videos, and of course used drugs. Drug data covers both generic and over the counter drugs, their dosage, side effects, storage conditions, and precautions. Above that, there’s data on evidence-based treatments like herbs and supplements. Medline uses an XML format.
 
RxNorm is your main source of drug vocabulary - any terms, brands, ingredients, properties, their codes, drug-drug interactions. There are six APIs to retrieve that information and you can choose between JSON and XML.

If you need drug prices, go to GoodRx that aggregates pricing data from pharmacy chains and covers 80 percent of US retail drug purchases. There’s even a price comparison feature. GoodRx returns JSON responses.