# RxNorm Drug Name Normalizer — RxCUI Match API (`quartz_apple_dnx/rxnorm-drug-name-normalizer`) Actor

Normalize medication strings to the best active RxNorm concept and RxCUI using the official U.S. National Library of Medicine RxNorm API.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/quartz_apple_dnx/rxnorm-drug-name-normalizer.md
- **Developed by:** [Piven Core](https://apify.com/quartz_apple_dnx) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Business
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$0.25 / 1,000 normalized rxnorm medications

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

## RxNorm Drug Name Normalizer — RxCUI Match API

Normalize messy medication strings to **one best active RxNorm concept** using the U.S. National Library of Medicine RxNav REST API.

Use it for **medication-list cleanup, record matching, terminology normalization, interoperability preprocessing, RxCUI resolution, and automated healthcare-data workflows**.

> This product uses publicly available data from the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services; NLM is not responsible for the product and does not endorse or recommend this or any other product.

**Not medical advice.** This Actor normalizes terminology only. It does not determine whether a medication is appropriate, safe, equivalent, prescribed, or clinically indicated.

### Common use cases

- Normalize inconsistent medication strings to canonical RxNorm names
- Resolve medication text to RxCUI identifiers
- Clean medication lists before matching or analysis
- Standardize terminology across imported healthcare datasets
- Feed normalized drug concepts into downstream interoperability workflows

### What you get

One row per input string can include input index/string, match status, RxCUI, canonical active RxNorm name, synonym when supplied, term type (TTY), language, approximate-match score/rank, current RxNorm version, and source provenance.

### Try it

```json
{
  "drugNames": ["aspirin", "metformin 500 mg tablet", "lipitor 20 mg tablet"],
  "maxCandidates": 5
}
```

### Source and service policy

- RxNorm/RxNav API: `https://rxnav.nlm.nih.gov/REST/`
- NLM permits use of the RxNorm API free of charge and generally without a license for RxNorm vocabulary data.
- NLM limits the online APIs to 20 requests/second/IP and recommends caching for repeated lookups.
- This Actor globally spaces upstream calls to about 8 requests/second or less, including concept-property lookups.

### Important limitations

A no-match input produces a diagnostic row. If all inputs are unmatched, a non-billed summary row is also written.

Normalization is terminology matching only. A matched RxNorm concept is not a determination of therapeutic equivalence, prescribing intent, dosage appropriateness, safety, or clinical indication.

### Pricing

Only inputs successfully normalized to an active RxNorm concept are billed. Not-found diagnostics and zero-result/budget summaries are not billed.

Candidate target: **$0.25 per 1,000 successful normalizations**.

### About Piven Core

Built and maintained by **Piven Core** — focused data APIs and automation utilities for reliable, production-ready workflows.

Learn more: https://pivencore.com

# Actor input Schema

## `drugNames` (type: `array`):

1 to 100 medication strings. Can include misspellings, strengths, dose forms, or brand/generic wording.

## `maxCandidates` (type: `integer`):

How many approximate candidates to ask RxNorm for before selecting the best active concept.

## `maxConcurrency` (type: `integer`):

Bounded concurrency. Upstream requests are globally rate-limited well below NLM's 20 requests/second/IP limit.

## `maxRequestRetries` (type: `integer`):

Retries transient RxNorm/network/rate-limit failures with bounded backoff.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "drugNames": [
    "aspirin",
    "metformin 500 mg tablet",
    "lipitor 20 mg tablet"
  ],
  "maxCandidates": 5,
  "maxConcurrency": 3,
  "maxRequestRetries": 2
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `dataset` (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 = {
    "drugNames": [
        "aspirin",
        "metformin 500 mg tablet",
        "lipitor 20 mg tablet"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("quartz_apple_dnx/rxnorm-drug-name-normalizer").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 = { "drugNames": [
        "aspirin",
        "metformin 500 mg tablet",
        "lipitor 20 mg tablet",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("quartz_apple_dnx/rxnorm-drug-name-normalizer").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 '{
  "drugNames": [
    "aspirin",
    "metformin 500 mg tablet",
    "lipitor 20 mg tablet"
  ]
}' |
apify call quartz_apple_dnx/rxnorm-drug-name-normalizer --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,quartz_apple_dnx/rxnorm-drug-name-normalizer"
        }
    }
}
```

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/7dJwEPM3iiTTR9fo4/builds/dI7RnZlA6gLwBUzTd/openapi.json