# openFDA Adverse Events — Drug Side-Effect Reports as Rows (`alaudinburki/openfda-adverse-events`) Actor

Query the FDA's adverse-event database and get flat rows — report id, date, seriousness, country and the reported reactions.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alaudinburki/openfda-adverse-events.md
- **Developed by:** [alaudin burki](https://apify.com/alaudinburki) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.00 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## openFDA Adverse Events — Drug Side-Effect Reports as Rows

Query the FDA's adverse-event database and get flat rows — report id, date, seriousness, country and the reported reactions.

### How to use

1. Open [openfda-adverse-events on Apify](https://apify.com/alaudinburki/openfda-adverse-events).
2. Enter the required input and adjust any limits in the input form.
3. Run the Actor and download its dataset from Apify.

### Inputs

| Field | Purpose | Default |
|---|---|---|
| `search` | openFDA search syntax, e.g. patient.drug.medicinalproduct:"IBUPROFEN" or receivedate:\[20260101+TO+20261231]. | — |
| `maxItems` | Stop after this many rows. | 500 |
| `maxPages` | Stop after this many pages. | 5 |

### Output dataset

| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `receivedDate` | Date the report was received by the regulator. This is when the regulator got it, not when the event happened. |
| `serious` | Whether the report was classified as SERIOUS. That is a regulatory category defined by the source, not a judgement about clinical severity. |
| `death` | Whether the report records a death as an outcome. A report recording a death is not a finding that the drug caused it. |
| `reporterCountry` | Country the report came from, as a code. It is the reporter's country, not necessarily the patient's. |
| `patientAge` | Age of the patient as the report states it. Frequently a STRING with its own unit (e.g. '45 Y'), and frequently the literal text the reporter typed. |
| `patientSex` | Sex recorded for the patient. |
| `reactions` | Reaction count on the item, as the source records it. |
| `drugs` | Drugs implicated in the report, as the source lists them. A report may name several, and naming one is not an attribution of cause. |

### Pricing and limits

Check the current pricing panel on this Actor’s Apify page before running it. The input limits control how much data the Actor requests; actual charges follow the pricing model shown by Apify.

Results depend on the source service and the input supplied. Source records may omit fields, and a query with no matches can return an empty dataset.

# Actor input Schema

## `search` (type: `string`):

openFDA search syntax, e.g. patient.drug.medicinalproduct:"IBUPROFEN" or receivedate:\[20260101+TO+20261231].

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many rows.

## `maxPages` (type: `integer`):

Stop after this many pages.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxPages": 5
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

One row per item, with the 8 fields listed under Views.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxPages": 5
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alaudinburki/openfda-adverse-events").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "maxItems": 500,
    "maxPages": 5,
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alaudinburki/openfda-adverse-events").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 500,
  "maxPages": 5
}' |
apify call alaudinburki/openfda-adverse-events --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alaudinburki/openfda-adverse-events"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/jyQIOd3dOcYX1e97a/builds/SpyxlhncbQOZwgxLz/openapi.json