DailyMed: Ingredient Search¶
Searches the U.S. DailyMed database for products containing a specified active ingredient. It retrieves up to a user-defined limit of results, then optionally filters them by dosage form, strength substring, and manufacturer substring. Returns both raw JSON and a human-readable summary that highlights dosage form distribution, top manufacturers, and strength variety.
Usage¶
Use this node when you need to find drug products by their active ingredient and quickly summarize what forms and manufacturers are most common. Typical workflow: set the ingredient and limit, optionally narrow by dosage form, and apply partial text filters for strength and manufacturer. Chain the products_json output to downstream processing or data extraction, and display the summary for quick insights.
Inputs¶
| Field | Required | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ingredient | True | STRING | The active ingredient name to search for. Matching is performed by the DailyMed service. | acetaminophen |
| limit | True | INT | Maximum number of results to fetch from the DailyMed service before optional local filters are applied. Range: 1–100. | 20 |
| dosage_form | False | CHOICE | Optional dosage form filter. Filters results locally by checking if the chosen form appears in the product's dosage_form text (case-insensitive). | tablet |
| strength_filter | False | STRING | Optional partial-text filter applied to the product strength field (case-insensitive). Products without a strength field are excluded when this is set. | 500 mg |
| manufacturer_filter | False | STRING | Optional partial-text filter applied to manufacturer names (case-insensitive). Products without manufacturer info are excluded when this is set. | Johnson |
Outputs¶
| Field | Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| products_json | STRING | JSON string array of the matched products returned from DailyMed after applying local filters. | [{"title":"ACETAMINOPHEN 500 MG","setid":"...","dosage_form":["TABLET"],"openfda":{"manufacturer_name":["Example Pharma"]}}] |
| summary | STRING | Human-readable summary including total products found, top dosage forms, top manufacturers, and count of distinct strengths. | Ingredient Search Summary: Acetaminophen ================================================== Total Products Found: 18 Dosage Forms: - TABLET: 10 products - CAPSULE: 5 products Top Manufacturers: - Example Pharma: 7 products Strength Variations: 6 different strengths available |
| product_count | INT | Number of products after applying all local filters. | 18 |
Important Notes¶
- Filtering order: The node first fetches up to 'limit' results from the service and only then applies local filters. If filters are strict, the final product_count may be much lower than 'limit'.
- Partial matching: strength_filter and manufacturer_filter are case-insensitive substring matches. dosage_form filtering is also case-insensitive and matches if the target form appears in the product's dosage_form text.
- Missing fields: Products missing dosage_form, strength, or manufacturer info will be excluded when the corresponding filter is set.
- Dosage form choices: Valid options are any, tablet, capsule, liquid, injection, cream, ointment. Choosing 'any' disables dosage form filtering.
- Network dependency: Requires network access to the DailyMed API; failures will return an error payload in products_json and a corresponding message in summary.
- Result variability: DailyMed data may vary by product; fields like strength, dosage_form, and manufacturer can be lists or strings.
Troubleshooting¶
- No results found: Loosen or remove filters (especially strength_filter and manufacturer_filter) and/or increase 'limit'. Ensure the ingredient spelling is correct.
- Very low product_count: Remember filters apply after fetching. Increase 'limit' to retrieve more items before filtering, or relax the filters.
- Network or API error: Check connectivity and retry later. The outputs may contain an error JSON with an 'error' key and the summary will begin with 'Error:'.
- Unexpected dosage form filtering: The filter is substring-based and case-insensitive. Ensure the selected dosage_form matches how forms appear in the data (e.g., 'tablet' matches 'TABLET').
- Missing manufacturer/strength: Some products may not include these fields; when a filter is set, such products are excluded. Remove the specific filter to include them.