# openFDA Drug Shortages Scraper (`neuton/openfda-drug-shortages-scraper`) Actor

Extract FDA drug shortage records for current shortage monitoring, supply-chain workflows, pharma operations, and healthcare procurement.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/neuton/openfda-drug-shortages-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Ashwin Prasad](https://apify.com/neuton) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, AI, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$4.00 / 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## openFDA Drug Shortages Scraper

Extract official FDA drug shortage records from openFDA. This actor is built for healthcare procurement, pharmacy operations, supply-chain monitoring, pharmaceutical intelligence, and shortage alerting workflows.

### What it extracts

- Generic name, package NDC, company name, shortage status, availability, and shortage reason
- Initial posting date, update date, therapeutic category, dosage form, presentation, and contact information
- openFDA metadata, source URL, raw FDA payload, and scrape timestamp

### Use cases

- Monitor current FDA drug shortages
- Support pharmacy, hospital, and distributor supply-chain workflows
- Build shortage dashboards and alerting systems
- Enrich procurement and healthcare operations pipelines with official FDA shortage data

### Agent and automation workflows

Use this actor as an official FDA drug shortage feed for Apify schedules, webhooks, pharmacy operations dashboards, procurement alerts, healthcare supply-chain monitors, and AI agents. The dataset is structured for Google Sheets, Airtable, Snowflake, BI tools, Make, Zapier, n8n, and internal alerting systems.

Common automation patterns:

- Daily shortage watchlists for key generic names or manufacturers
- Hospital and pharmacy procurement alerts when shortage status changes
- Pharma market-intelligence datasets by therapeutic category
- Distributor and supply-chain monitoring for availability, reasons, and update dates
- RAG or AI-agent workflows that summarize current FDA shortage pressure

### Input

Filter by status, generic name, company name, therapeutic category, and max results.

### Example input

```json
{
  "status": "Current",
  "genericName": "amoxicillin",
  "maxResults": 25
}
```

### Output

Each dataset row represents one FDA shortage record with normalized shortage status, generic name, package NDC, company name, availability, reason, posting date, update date, dosage form, therapeutic category, contact details when present, openFDA metadata, source URL, scrape timestamp, and raw source data for auditability.

### SEO keywords

FDA drug shortages scraper, openFDA drug shortage API, drug shortage data, pharmacy procurement data, hospital supply chain monitoring, pharma shortage alerts, FDA shortage list export, healthcare operations intelligence.

### Responsible use

This actor uses official FDA/openFDA public records. It is intended for research, procurement, compliance, and operational monitoring; validate critical clinical or supply decisions against the official FDA source.

### Pricing guidance

Recommended launch pricing: $3-$4 per 1,000 shortage rows, increasing toward $5-$7 per 1,000 after recurring healthcare supply-chain usage appears.

# Actor input Schema

## `status` (type: `string`):

Optional shortage status filter. Use Current for active shortages.

## `genericName` (type: `string`):

Optional generic name keyword.

## `companyName` (type: `string`):

Optional company keyword.

## `therapeuticCategory` (type: `string`):

Optional therapeutic category keyword.

## `maxResults` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of shortage rows to return.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "status": "Current",
  "genericName": "",
  "companyName": "",
  "therapeuticCategory": "",
  "maxResults": 100
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

No description

# 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 = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("neuton/openfda-drug-shortages-scraper").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 = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("neuton/openfda-drug-shortages-scraper").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 '{}' |
apify call neuton/openfda-drug-shortages-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,neuton/openfda-drug-shortages-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

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/BMgX0hDhB4LHBK0Pk/builds/JdHW1RCpZdNN7nnMA/openapi.json