RxList Drug Information Scraper — Monographs & Side Effects

RxList Drug Information Scraper turns public RxList drug monographs into structured records: brand and generic name, drug class, review date and reviewer, and the full text of up to 12 sections, including uses, dosage, side effects, drug interactions, warnings and contraindications. It is built for health-content, pharmacy-informatics and research teams that need drug monograph text as data, and it costs USD 10.00 per 1,000 monographs on the FREE tier (USD 0.01 each, USD 8.00 per 1,000 on GOLD).

You enter brand names such as Ativan, Eliquis or Ozempic, or paste exact RxList monograph URLs, and the Actor returns one record per page, up to 20 monographs per run.

What data does the RxList scraper return?

Each dataset row is one RxList drug monograph.

Field	What it contains
drugName	Page heading, usually the brand name, for example Ativan
genericName	Related generic name from the page's structured data, for example Lorazepam
drugClass	Drug class, for example Anxiolytics, Benzodiazepines
lastReviewed, reviewedBy	Clinical review date and reviewer shown in the page metadata
sections	Text of each section found: description, uses, dosage, howSupplied, sideEffects, drugInteractions, warnings, precautions, overdose, contraindications, clinicalPharmacology, patientInformation
sectionNames	The section keys present on that page
title, metaDescription	Page title and meta description
sourceUrl, canonicalUrl	Requested URL and RxList's canonical URL
recordId	Stable ID derived from the canonical URL
scrapedAt	Retrieval time (UTC)

Missing values are null. A section the page does not have is left out of sections instead of being filled with placeholder text. The SUMMARY record (copied to OUTPUT) lists requested pages, delivered records, warnings and a status: SUCCEEDED, PARTIAL, EMPTY, BLOCKED, REJECTED or FAILED.

How do I get side effects, dosage and interactions for a list of drugs?

Put the brand names in Drug names. The Actor opens https://www.rxlist.com/<name>-drug.htm for each one. Side effects land in sections.sideEffects, dosage in sections.dosage and interactions in sections.drugInteractions.

{
  "drugNames": ["Ativan", "Eliquis", "Ozempic"],
  "maxResults": 3
}

Use brand names as they appear in RxList monograph URLs. Generic-only names such as lorazepam or metformin have no -drug.htm page. They return no record, and SUMMARY gets a warning. For those, find the drug on RxList and paste the exact page URL:

{
  "startUrls": [{ "url": "https://www.rxlist.com/ativan-drug.htm" }],
  "maxResults": 1
}

When you fill in both lists, the exact URLs are used and the names are ignored. Each list takes up to 20 entries, and maxResults (1–20, default 10) caps the delivered records. The default input returns the Ativan monograph.

When should I use this Actor, and when not?

Use it when you are building a drug-information knowledge base or a retrieval index for an AI assistant, comparing label sections across brands, tracking RxList review dates, or exporting monograph text to a spreadsheet or database.

Use something else when:

• You need FDA approval history, application numbers or approval letters: FDA Drug Approvals Scraper.
• You need pharmacy price offers for a drug: PharmacyChecker Scraper.
• You need hospital quality ratings: Medicare Hospital Compare Scraper.
• You need RxList's pill identifier, interaction-checker results, drug images or slideshows. The Actor reads monograph pages only.

Monograph text is reference information, not medical advice.

Use it from an AI assistant

RxList Drug Information Scraper works from Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or any MCP client through Apify's MCP server. Add it with https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=muhammadafzal/rxlist-drug-information-scraper, then ask, for example: "Get the RxList monographs for Eliquis and Xarelto and compare their contraindications and drug interactions."

Run it with the API

JavaScript:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('muhammadafzal/rxlist-drug-information-scraper').call({
    drugNames: ['Ativan', 'Eliquis'],
    maxResults: 2,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
for (const drug of items) console.log(drug.drugName, drug.genericName, drug.sectionNames.length);

Python:

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN")
run = client.actor("muhammadafzal/rxlist-drug-information-scraper").call(
    run_input={"drugNames": ["Ozempic", "Lipitor"], "maxResults": 2}
)
for drug in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(drug["drugName"], drug["drugClass"], drug["sections"].get("sideEffects", "")[:200])

What does the output look like?

Two records parsed from the live Ativan and Eliquis pages on 2026-10-26. Section text is shortened here; real records carry the full text (the Ativan side-effects section is about 7,000 characters).

[
  {
    "recordId": "82bf1a15e919889a1063",
    "drugName": "Ativan",
    "genericName": "Lorazepam",
    "title": "Ativan (Lorazepam): Side Effects, Uses, Dosage, Interactions, Warnings",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.rxlist.com/ativan-drug.htm",
    "canonicalUrl": "https://www.rxlist.com/ativan-drug.htm",
    "lastReviewed": "2023-02-13T12:00:00-07:00",
    "reviewedBy": "John P. Cunha, DO, FACOEP",
    "drugClass": "Anxiolytics, Benzodiazepines",
    "sections": {
      "description": "Ativan (lorazepam), an antianxiety agent, has the chemical formula …",
      "uses": "Ativan (lorazepam) is indicated for the management of anxiety disorders …",
      "dosage": "Ativan (lorazepam) is administered orally. …",
      "sideEffects": "Most adverse reactions to benzodiazepines, including CNS effects and respiratory depression, are dose dependent …"
    },
    "sectionNames": ["description", "uses", "dosage", "howSupplied", "sideEffects", "drugInteractions", "warnings", "precautions", "overdose", "contraindications", "clinicalPharmacology", "patientInformation"],
    "scrapedAt": "2026-10-26T14:21:39.132Z"
  },
  {
    "recordId": "da57fa50d94c12f08eb0",
    "drugName": "Eliquis",
    "genericName": "Apixaban",
    "title": "Eliquis (Apixaban Tablets): Side Effects, Uses, Dosage, Interactions, Warnings",
    "sourceUrl": "https://www.rxlist.com/eliquis-drug.htm",
    "lastReviewed": "2025-04-26T12:00:00-07:00",
    "drugClass": "Anticoagulants, Cardiovascular",
    "sectionNames": ["description", "uses", "dosage", "howSupplied", "sideEffects", "drugInteractions", "warnings", "precautions", "overdose", "contraindications", "clinicalPharmacology", "patientInformation"]
  }
]

Pricing: how much does RxList drug data cost?

RxList Drug Information Scraper uses pay-per-event pricing. Platform usage is included in the event prices.

Event	FREE	BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD	PLATINUM / DIAMOND
Drug monograph (one dataset row)	USD 0.010001	USD 0.00975	USD 0.0095	USD 0.008	USD 0.008
Actor start (per started GB of allocated memory)	USD 0.010001	USD 0.00975	USD 0.0095	USD 0.008	USD 0.008

Worked totals on the FREE tier at the default 512 MB memory (one start event):

• Default run, 1 Ativan monograph: 1 × USD 0.010001 + USD 0.010001 = USD 0.0200
• Largest run, 20 monographs: 20 × USD 0.010001 + USD 0.010001 = USD 0.2100

A name with no RxList monograph is not charged as a record, so a run that finds nothing costs only the start fee. You can also set a maximum cost per run in Apify Console.

What are the limits?

• 20 monographs per run. For longer lists, split them across runs or schedule batches.
• Polite pacing. One request at a time, at most 20 per minute, with 2 retries per page.
• Blocked pages are not data. HTTP 403, 429 or a challenge page is recorded as a warning; if nothing came through, the status is BLOCKED. No record is invented.
• Text only. Tables become plain text, and chemical-structure images are dropped.
• Duplicates removed. Two inputs that resolve to the same canonical page produce one record.

FAQ

Where does RxList's drug information come from?

RxList pages show the FDA-approved prescribing information under an "FDA Drug Information" heading, plus RxList's own summaries. The Actor copies the section text as the page shows it and keeps the page URL. For regulatory work, check the current FDA label.

Why did a drug name return nothing?

That name has no https://www.rxlist.com/<name>-drug.htm page, which is common for generic-only names such as lorazepam. Paste the exact monograph URL into Exact RxList URLs instead.

How current is the data?

Every run reads the live page. lastReviewed is RxList's own review date. On 2026-10-26 it was 2023-02-13 for Ativan and 2025-04-26 for Eliquis.

Does it include the drug interaction checker or pill identifier?

No. It returns the interactions section of each monograph, not results from RxList's interactive tools.

Can I scrape every drug on RxList?

Not in one run. Each run handles up to 20 monographs, so larger lists need batches or a schedule.

Can I republish the text?

RxList's content belongs to its publisher. Check RxList's terms before you redistribute text. Quoting sections with a link to the source page is the safer pattern.

Related Actors

• FDA Drug Approvals Scraper: Drugs@FDA approval history, labels and approval letters
• PharmacyChecker Scraper: drug price offers
• Medicare Hospital Compare Scraper: CMS hospital ratings
• Healthline Medical Provider Directory Scraper: provider listings
• Other public-data Actors from this developer: UK Sanctions List Scraper, Ofsted Reports Scraper and USAspending Awards Scraper

Legal and compliance

This Actor reads publicly reachable RxList pages. It does not log in, submit forms or bypass challenges. It is independent of RxList and not endorsed by it. Follow RxList's terms and applicable copyright law, and keep source links when you store or quote text. The output is not medical advice: a qualified healthcare professional must review it before any clinical use.

Last verified: 2026-10-26