FDA Drug Labels Scraper

Export structured FDA drug label records — warnings, dosing, manufacturers, and ingredients — for discovery, comparison, and ongoing monitoring.

What you get

Search the public FDA drug labeling catalog and save one deduplicated row per public SPL label record. Results include SPL identity, version, effective date, product names, manufacturers, substances, routes, dosage forms, NDCs, indications, warnings, adverse reactions, dosage, and provenance. Use discovery inputs for market maps and exact-name inputs, when available, for stable monitoring cohorts.

Output fields

Field	Description
labelId, setId, version	Identifiers for the label record and its revision
effectiveTime	Date the label version took effect
brandNames, genericNames	Product and active-ingredient names
manufacturers, substances	Manufacturer and active substance names
productTypes, routes, dosageForms	Product classification, route of administration, and dosage form
applicationNumbers, productNdcs	FDA application number and National Drug Code(s)
purpose, indications_and_usage, boxed_warning, warnings, adverse_reactions, dosage_and_administration, contraindications, drug_interactions	Label text sections, when published for that record
searchQuery	The drug name or set ID that produced this row
sourceUrl	Link back to the record on the public FDA API

Example output

{"setId":"example-set-id","effectiveTime":"20260701","brandNames":["Aspirin"],"genericNames":["ASPIRIN"],"manufacturers":["Example Pharma Inc."],"routes":["ORAL"],"dosageForms":["TABLET"],"warnings":"Stomach bleeding warning...","sourceUrl":"https://api.fda.gov/drug/label.json?search=id:example-id"}

Input parameters

Parameter	Required	Description
drugNames	No	Up to ten brand-name searches.
setIds	No	Up to 25 exact SPL set IDs.
maxResultsPerQuery	Yes	Maximum labels per name.
maxResults	Yes	Maximum unique labels saved.

At least one discovery or exact-name input is required. Result limits apply after cross-input deduplication, and only saved unique rows are charged.

Use cases

• Regulatory and pharmacovigilance teams: monitor label changes — new warnings, updated dosing, added contraindications — for a fixed set of drugs over time.
• Market researchers: map which manufacturers and formulations exist for a drug or ingredient class.
• Health-tech developers: build drug-information lookups backed by the same structured data FDA.gov itself publishes.
• Competitive intelligence teams: compare label language and indications across brand and generic versions of a drug.

Limitations

• Labels reflect submissions reformatted by openFDA and may not match the labeling currently printed on packaging or distributed with the product.
• Text sections (warnings, adverse_reactions, etc.) are capped at 6,000 characters each; longer sections are truncated.
• A section that a manufacturer never submitted comes back empty rather than guessed.
• This is label data, not medical advice — always confirm against the current approved labeling before acting on it.

Compared to alternatives

Most FDA label scrapers on the Store return raw openFDA JSON as-is. This Actor normalizes brand names, generic names, routes, and dosage forms into consistent arrays, deduplicates records across your search inputs before charging, and supports both open-ended name search and exact SPL set ID lookups for repeatable monitoring.

FAQ

Do I need an FDA account or API key?

No. The Actor reads openFDA's public drug label API, which requires no login or credentials.

How should I monitor a fixed list of drugs over time?

Use exact setIds where you already know them for stable results, keep result limits explicit, save the input as an Apify Task, and retain dated datasets so you can diff label changes between runs.

Can I use this output for medical or regulatory decisions?

No. This Actor returns the same label text FDA.gov publishes, but it is reference data, not medical advice — always confirm against the current approved labeling for clinical or regulatory decisions.

Where can I find more workflows?

Visit Thirdwatch public-data scrapers and related Thirdwatch Actors: Clinical Trials Scraper, NIH RePORTER Projects Scraper, and FDA Recalls Scraper.

Last verified: 2026-07