RxList Drug Information Scraper

RxList Drug Information Scraper

Scrape RxList drug information for any prescription medication, up to a million per run. Each drug comes with its generic name, brand names, drug class, pregnancy category, and CSA schedule. No login or API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

RxList's drug index is spread across thousands of pages, and there is no public API for bulk access. This reads the public drug monographs directly, filtered by starting letter, and returns each match in one fixed schema. It is built for pharmacists, researchers, and healthcare data teams who need clean, structured drug data without manual copying.

Who uses it	What they scrape RxList for
Pharmacists	Build a reference table of drug classes and pregnancy categories for their practice
Healthcare data analysts	Compile a dataset of prescription drugs for formulary analysis
Medical researchers	Gather drug information for systematic reviews or pharmacovigilance studies
Pharma market researchers	Track the RxList drug index for competitive intelligence
Developers building health apps	Populate a drug database for medication lookup features

What it does

This Actor collects RxList drug entries by starting letter and returns each one as a flat row with its generic name, brand names, drug class, pregnancy category, and CSA schedule.

• 🔤 Letter filter: scrape only drugs starting with a specific letter, from A to Z, or leave empty to collect the entire index.
• 📊 Structured output: each drug is returned as a flat row with generic name, brand names, drug class, pregnancy category, and CSA schedule.
• 📦 Bulk export: download results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for direct use in your tools.
• ⚙️ Simple configuration: set a maximum number of drugs and an optional starting letter, then run.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with RxList data

💊 Build a drug reference database.

A pharmacist runs the Actor with no letter filter to collect all RxList drug entries, then exports the dataset to CSV for use in their dispensing software.

📈 Analyze drug classes for research.

A healthcare data analyst scrapes drugs starting with 'A' to study the distribution of drug classes and pregnancy categories in that segment.

🔍 Monitor new drug listings.

A pharma market researcher runs the Actor weekly with a letter filter to detect newly added drugs on RxList and update their competitive tracking sheet.

🧪 Support pharmacovigilance studies.

A medical researcher collects the full drug index to cross-reference CSA schedules and pregnancy categories for a safety review.

📱 Populate a medication lookup app.

A developer scrapes all drugs and imports the JSON output into their app's database to power a drug search feature.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Scrape public RxList pages without registration or rate limits
Clean schema	Every drug is returned with the same fields, ready for analysis
Letter filter	Target a subset of the index, from a single letter to the full A-Z
Bulk export	Download as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML for offline use

How it compares

No other Store actor targets RxList the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	RxList Drug Information Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When RxList changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with an optional starting letter and a maximum item count. The letter filter runs as the index is read, so only drugs starting with that letter reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
  "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
  "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$2.10
1,000 results	$21.00
10,000 results	$210.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the RxList Drug Information Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to RxList through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

$claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/rxlist-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that the Letter Filter is set to a valid letter and that maxItems is at least 1. If the letter has no drugs on RxList, the run will return an empty dataset.

The run is taking too long.

Reduce the maxItems value or use a letter filter to limit the number of pages. The Actor processes each drug page sequentially, so a full A-Z scrape can take time.

Some fields are empty in the output.

RxList may not have that information for every drug. The Actor returns empty strings for missing fields, which is expected behavior.

I get an error about the website being unreachable.

RxList may be temporarily down or blocking requests. Try again later, or check your network connection. If the issue persists, contact Apify support.

The output has duplicate drugs.

RxList may list the same drug under multiple letters or categories. The Actor does not deduplicate by default, so you may need to clean the data after export.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What data does this Actor return for each drug?	Each drug is returned as a flat row with its generic name, brand names, drug class, pregnancy category, and CSA schedule. The exact fields are shown in the sample output.
Can I scrape only drugs starting with a specific letter?	Yes, use the Letter Filter input to select a letter from A to Z. Leave it empty to scrape the entire index.
Is there a limit on how many drugs I can scrape?	You can set a maximum number of drugs per run, up to 1,000,000. The Actor stops after reaching that count.
Do I need an API key or login for RxList?	No, this Actor reads the public RxList pages directly. No registration or API key is required.
What export formats are supported?	You can export the results as CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify dataset.
How often is the RxList data updated?	The Actor scrapes the live RxList website each time you run it, so you get the current data as of the run time.
Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically?	Yes, you can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor daily, weekly, or at any interval you need.
Does this Actor handle pagination on RxList?	Yes, it automatically follows the pagination for the selected letter to collect all matching drugs up to your maxItems limit.
What if a drug page is missing some information?	The Actor returns empty values for any missing fields, so the output schema remains consistent across all drugs.
Is this Actor suitable for commercial use?	Yes, you can use the scraped data for commercial purposes, but you should review RxList's terms of service for any restrictions on data usage.

Related actors

Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WebMD LLC. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.