# OpenFDA Drug & Recall Monitor (`agentictools/openfda-safety-monitor`) Actor

Search FDA data for drug adverse events, recalls, and enforcement reports for any drug, device, food, or company. Official openFDA data.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/agentictools/openfda-safety-monitor.md
- **Developed by:** [Ken Agland](https://apify.com/agentictools) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

$1.00 / 1,000 record returneds

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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
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.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## 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.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

## OpenFDA Drug & Recall Monitor

Search FDA data for drug adverse events, recalls, and enforcement reports for any drug, device, food, or company. Official openFDA data.

### What it does

This Actor queries the public openFDA API by keyword across five datasets: drug adverse events, drug recalls, device recalls, food recalls, and drug labels. Give it a drug name, device, food product, or company name and it returns normalized, structured records plus a run summary.

### Example input

```json
{ "query": "ibuprofen", "dataset": "drug-recalls", "limit": 25 }
```

Adverse events reported for a drug since a given date:

```json
{ "query": "metformin", "dataset": "drug-events", "limit": 50, "sinceDate": "20240101" }
```

### Input

| Field | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
| `query` | string | Required. Keyword to search for: a drug name, device, food product, or company. |
| `dataset` | string | Which openFDA dataset to search: `drug-events`, `drug-recalls`, `device-recalls`, `food-recalls`, or `drug-labels`. Default `drug-recalls`. |
| `limit` | integer | How many records to return, up to 100. Default 25. |
| `sinceDate` | string | Only include records reported on or after this date (`YYYYMMDD`). Optional. |

### Output

Recall and enforcement datasets (`drug-recalls`, `device-recalls`, `food-recalls`):

```json
{
  "recallNumber": "D-727-2015",
  "firm": "Attix Pharmaceuticals",
  "product": "Ibuprofen active pharmaceutical ingredient packaged in varying grams or kg in bags or drums",
  "reason": "Penicillin Cross Contamination: lots repackaged in a facility with penicillin products without adequate separation.",
  "classification": "Class II",
  "status": "Terminated",
  "recallInitiationDate": "20141114",
  "distributionPattern": "Nationwide to compounding pharmacies and research organizations.",
  "dataset": "drug-recalls"
}
```

Adverse events (`drug-events`):

```json
{
  "safetyReportId": "10003301",
  "drugs": ["IBUPROFEN"],
  "reactions": ["Dyspepsia", "Renal impairment"],
  "serious": true,
  "receiveDate": "20140228",
  "dataset": "drug-events"
}
```

Drug labels (`drug-labels`):

```json
{
  "brandName": "Advil",
  "genericName": "IBUPROFEN",
  "manufacturer": "Lil' Drug Store Products, Inc.",
  "purpose": "Pain reliever/fever reducer",
  "warnings": "Stomach bleeding warning: this product contains an NSAID...",
  "dataset": "drug-labels"
}
```

#### Run summary (OUTPUT)

The run's default key-value store record `OUTPUT` holds a summary:

```json
{
  "dataset": "drug-recalls",
  "query": "ibuprofen",
  "sinceDate": null,
  "totalMatched": 68,
  "returned": 10,
  "generatedFrom": "https://api.fda.gov/drug/enforcement.json?search=..."
}
```

### How it works

The Actor calls the public openFDA API (`https://api.fda.gov`), no API key required. It builds a field-targeted search for the chosen dataset (recall description and firm name for enforcement data, medicinal product for adverse events, brand/generic/substance name for labels), adds a date range when `sinceDate` is given, and sends a descriptive User-Agent on every request. Requests are retried with backoff on rate limiting (429) and server errors (5xx); other client errors fail fast. A query with zero matches is treated as an empty result, not an error.

### Use cases

- Monitor a drug or device for new recalls and safety enforcement actions.
- Track adverse event reports for a medication over time.
- Look up label warnings and active ingredients for a brand or generic drug.
- Screen a supplier or manufacturer for recall history before sourcing.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

Keyword to search for: a drug name, device, food product, or company name (e.g. "ibuprofen", "Pfizer", "peanut butter").

## `dataset` (type: `string`):

Which openFDA dataset to search.

## `limit` (type: `integer`):

How many records to return. Maximum 100 per run.

## `sinceDate` (type: `string`):

Only include records reported on or after this date (format YYYYMMDD, e.g. 20240101). Leave blank for no date filter.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "ibuprofen",
  "dataset": "drug-recalls",
  "limit": 25
}
```

# 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 = {
    "query": "ibuprofen"
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("agentictools/openfda-safety-monitor").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 = { "query": "ibuprofen" }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("agentictools/openfda-safety-monitor").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "query": "ibuprofen"
}' |
apify call agentictools/openfda-safety-monitor --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=agentictools/openfda-safety-monitor",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/5ynRlQPORZTpVO6Li/builds/lshozSF4D68skmDBz/openapi.json