DailyMed: Ingredient Search¶
Searches the DailyMed database for drug products that contain a specified active ingredient. Optionally filters the results by dosage form, strength text, and manufacturer name, then returns both raw JSON and a concise human-readable summary.
Usage¶
Use this node when you need to find U.S. drug products by active ingredient and narrow results with simple, case-insensitive filters. Typical workflow: provide an ingredient (e.g., acetaminophen), choose a result limit, optionally select a dosage form (e.g., tablet) and add partial text matches for strength (e.g., 500 mg) or manufacturer. Downstream nodes can consume the returned JSON for detailed processing, while the summary provides a quick overview of dosage forms, manufacturers, and strength variety.
Inputs¶
| Field | Required | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ingredient | True | STRING | Active ingredient name to search for in the DailyMed database. This is the core query. | acetaminophen |
| limit | True | INT | Maximum number of products to retrieve from DailyMed (1–100). | 20 |
| dosage_form | False | any \| tablet \| capsule \| liquid \| injection \| cream \| ointment | Optional filter to restrict results by dosage form. Uses a case-insensitive substring match against product dosage forms. | tablet |
| strength_filter | False | STRING | Optional partial-text filter applied to the product strength field (case-insensitive). | 500 mg |
| manufacturer_filter | False | STRING | Optional partial-text filter applied to the manufacturer name(s) from the product’s OpenFDA metadata (case-insensitive). | Johnson |
Outputs¶
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| products_json | STRING | JSON string of the matching product records returned by the DailyMed API after local filters are applied. | [{ "title": "Acetaminophen 500 mg", "setid": "...", "active_ingredient": ["Acetaminophen"], "dosage_form": ["TABLET"], "strength": ["500 mg"], "openfda": { "manufacturer_name": ["Example Pharma"] }}] |
| summary | STRING | Human-readable summary including total count, top dosage forms and manufacturers, and number of unique strengths. | Ingredient Search Summary: Acetaminophen ================================================== Total Products Found: 18 Dosage Forms: - TABLET: 10 products - CAPSULE: 5 products Top Manufacturers: - Example Pharma: 6 products Strength Variations: 3 different strengths available |
| product_count | INT | The number of products after applying all filters. | 18 |
Important Notes¶
- Filters are case-insensitive and use partial substring matching for dosage form, strength, and manufacturer.
- Dosage form selection is optional; choose "any" to disable this filter.
- The API search itself is not exact-match; ingredient searches use DailyMed's standard ingredient query without exact matching.
- Some products may lack certain fields (e.g., strength or manufacturer). Such items will not match those specific filters.
- Network and API behavior: Calls use a 30-second timeout and depend on DailyMed availability and rate limits.
- Result limit range: 1 to 100.
Troubleshooting¶
- No results returned: Verify the ingredient spelling, increase the limit, and remove or relax filters (set dosage_form to "any", clear strength/manufacturer filters).
- Too few results when filtering by dosage form: Ensure the selected form is appropriate; try a broader form (e.g., tablet instead of caplet) or use "any".
- Strength filter not matching: The filter performs partial text match; try simpler text (e.g., "500" instead of "500 mg tablet").
- Manufacturer filter not matching: Some records may not include manufacturer data in OpenFDA fields; remove this filter or broaden the match.
- API or network error: Check connectivity and retry later. The node returns an error JSON in products_json and product_count = 0 on failure.