# openFDA Drug Adverse Events & Recalls Scraper (`scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper`) Actor
Scrape FDA drug adverse event reports (FAERS) and drug recall actions from the official openFDA API. Get safety report ID, patient reactions, drugs, seriousness, recall class, reason and recalling firm. Export to JSON, CSV or Excel.
- **URL**: https://apify.com/scrapers\_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Scrapers Lat](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat) (community)
- **Categories:** Business, Automation, Developer tools
- **Stats:** 1 total users, 0 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars
## Pricing
from $6.15 / 1,000 results
This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.
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
[](https://console.apify.com/actors/1g0J6h7LtN0VR8RWF/input)
## openFDA Drug Adverse Events & Recalls Scraper
> Extract FDA drug adverse event reports (FAERS) and drug recalls from the official openFDA API, covering millions of US safety records
**📥 [Input](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/input-schema) · 📤 [Output](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/output-schema) · 💰 [Pricing](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/pricing) · ▶️ [Examples](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples)**
2 datasets events and recalls
United States coverage
JSON / CSV / Excel output formats
**Why teams choose this scraper:** the most complete openFDA drug safety feed available. Every adverse event carries the full report plus premium enrichment most tools drop: per-reaction outcomes (resolved, fatal, ongoing), the reporter country and qualification, the sending organisation, expedited-criteria and transmission flags, and patient weight and death date. Each drug is enriched with its brand name, generic name, product type, route, authorisation number, batch number and start and end dates alongside NDC, RxCUI, UNII and pharmacologic class. Nothing is invented; fields the source omits come back null.
### Who is it for
| Use case | Who benefits |
|---|---|
| Drug safety and pharmacovigilance monitoring | Pharma safety and regulatory teams |
| Tracking recalls for a specific drug or firm | Compliance and quality teams |
| Building adverse event datasets for research | Academic and data science teams |
| Competitive and market safety intelligence | Market access and strategy analysts |
| Feeding safety signals into internal dashboards | Health data engineers |
### Frequently Asked Questions
**What data does this scraper cover?**\
It covers two openFDA drug datasets for the United States: the FAERS adverse event reports (patient reactions, drugs and seriousness) and the drug enforcement database of recalls. You pick which one with the Dataset input.
**How many records can I pull in one run?**\
openFDA paginates with a skip offset up to 25000 records per query, so a single search can return up to that many. For larger pulls, narrow the search keyword or the date range to split the work.
**How does the search work?**\
Type a simple keyword and it is matched to the drug product name for events or the recall reason for recalls. You can also paste a raw openFDA expression that already names a field, such as patient.reaction.reactionmeddrapt:"Nausea" or reason\_for\_recall:contamination.
**Can I filter by date?**\
Yes. Set Date From and Date To in YYYY-MM-DD format. For events this filters the FDA receive date, and for recalls the report date.
**What happens to missing fields?**\
Fields that openFDA does not provide for a given record are returned as null. The scraper never invents values, so an empty field means the source did not report it.
### Example use cases
Ready-to-run example tasks, each preconfigured for a common scenario. Open one and press run, or use it as a template:
- [openFDA Amoxicillin Drug Recalls Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-amoxicillin-drug-recalls): Scrape FDA enforcement recall records for amoxicillin. Pull recall reasons, classification, distribution, and status from the openFDA drug recalls database as J
- [openFDA Atorvastatin Lipitor Adverse Events Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-atorvastatin-lipitor-adverse-events): Scrape FDA FAERS adverse event reports for atorvastatin (Lipitor). Collect patient reactions, muscle and liver events, and outcomes from openFDA as JSON.
- [openFDA Ibuprofen Adverse Events Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-ibuprofen-adverse-events): Scrape FDA FAERS adverse event reports for ibuprofen. Pull patient reactions, outcomes, and report dates from the openFDA drug events database as structured JSO
- [openFDA Lisinopril Adverse Events Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-lisinopril-adverse-events): Scrape FDA FAERS adverse event reports for lisinopril. Pull patient reactions, outcomes, and report metadata from the openFDA drug events database as JSON.
- [openFDA Metformin Adverse Events Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-metformin-adverse-events): Scrape FDA FAERS adverse event reports for metformin. Collect patient reactions, seriousness, and outcomes from the openFDA drug events database as clean JSON.
- [openFDA Semaglutide Ozempic Adverse Events Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-semaglutide-ozempic-adverse-events): Scrape FDA FAERS adverse event reports for Ozempic (semaglutide). Extract patient reactions, GI events, outcomes, and report dates from openFDA as JSON.
- [openFDA Warfarin Adverse Events Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-warfarin-adverse-events): Scrape FDA FAERS adverse event reports for warfarin. Extract patient reactions, bleeding events, outcomes, and report dates from the openFDA database as JSON.
- [Track Aspirin Adverse Event Reports](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-aspirin-adverse-events): Track Aspirin Adverse Event Reports
- [Scrape FDA Drug Recalls](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-drug-recalls): Scrape FDA Drug Recalls
- [Monitor Opioid Adverse Events](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper/examples/openfda-opioid-adverse-events): Monitor Opioid Adverse Events
### Export, API and AI agents (x402 + MCP)
Export the scraped data to **JSON, CSV or Excel**, pull it as a **dataset** through the Apify **API**, or wire it into your app with **no code**. This web scraper and data extractor also works for bulk data extraction and scheduled runs.
For AI agents: this Actor is available on **x402**, Apify's agentic payment standard built with Coinbase. An AI agent can discover, pay for and run it on its own with a funded wallet and a single HTTP request: no account, no subscription, no API key and no human in the loop. It also runs as an **MCP** tool inside Claude, Cursor and other AI clients out of the box. Learn more about [x402 agentic payments on Apify](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/x402).
### Related scrapers
Need data from the same space? Here are other scrapers we build and maintain:
- [SEC EDGAR Company Filings Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/sec-edgar-filings-scraper): Scrape SEC EDGAR company filings by ticker or CIK. Get form type, filing date, accession number...
- [USAspending Federal Award Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/usaspending-awards-scraper): Scrape US federal prime awards from USAspending.gov. Get recipient, UEI, award amount, awarding...
- [Grants.gov Opportunity Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/grants-gov-scraper): Extract U.S. federal grant opportunities from the official Grants.gov API. Scrape title, agency...
- [NPPES NPI Provider Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/nppes-npi-scraper): Scrape US healthcare provider records from the official NPPES NPI Registry. Search by name...
- [BizQuest Businesses-for-Sale Listings Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/bizquest-scraper): Extract US businesses-for-sale listings from BizQuest with the broker or seller contact (name...
- [California CSLB Contractor License Scraper](https://apify.com/scrapers_lat/california-cslb-scraper): Extract licensed California contractor records from the CSLB public data portal by classification...
### More scrapers at scrapers.lat
This actor is built and maintained by [scrapers.lat](https://scrapers.lat), where we publish scrapers for Latin American and US public platforms: real estate, jobs, e-commerce, company registries and government data. Browse the full catalog, see live sample output for each one, or ask us for a custom scraper at [scrapers.lat](https://scrapers.lat).
***
> This actor is an independent tool and has no affiliation with the FDA or openFDA. It only accesses data that is publicly available through the open FDA API. Use it in accordance with the openFDA terms of service.
# Actor input Schema
## `maxRecords` (type: `integer`):
Maximum number of drug adverse-event / recall records to collect. Optional. openFDA paginates with skip up to 25000, so for very large pulls narrow the search or date range.
## `dataset` (type: `string`):
Which openFDA drug dataset to pull. Adverse Events is the FAERS database of patient reaction reports. Recalls is the drug enforcement (recall) database.
## `searchQuery` (type: `string`):
A simple keyword (matched to the drug product name for events, or to the product description for recalls), or a raw openFDA search expression containing a field, for example reason\_for\_recall:contamination or patient.reaction.reactionmeddrapt:"Nausea". Leave empty to pull the most recent records.
## `dateFrom` (type: `string`):
Only include records on or after this date (YYYY-MM-DD). For events this filters the FDA receive date, for recalls the report date.
## `dateTo` (type: `string`):
Only include records on or before this date (YYYY-MM-DD).
## Actor input object example
```json
{
"maxRecords": 50,
"dataset": "events",
"searchQuery": "aspirin"
}
```
# Actor output Schema
## `results` (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 '' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
token: '',
});
// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
"maxRecords": 50,
"searchQuery": "aspirin"
};
// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper").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 '' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("")
# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
"maxRecords": 50,
"searchQuery": "aspirin",
}
# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper").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 '{
"maxRecords": 50,
"searchQuery": "aspirin"
}' |
apify call scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper --silent --output-dataset
```
## MCP server setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"apify": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=scrapers_lat/openfda-drug-events-scraper",
"--header",
"Authorization: Bearer "
]
}
}
}
```
## OpenAPI specification
Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/1g0J6h7LtN0VR8RWF/builds/QIMygBuo12sLfV2P3/openapi.json