API referenceDrugs
Search drug shortages
GET /v1/drugs/shortages
GET https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/drugs/shortagesFDA's drug shortage list (via openFDA), one entry per presentation (package NDC): current and recently resolved shortages, and discontinuations. Search by generic name with q, filter by NDC, status or therapeutic category. With q, ranked by match_score; without it, most recently updated first (match_score: 1). ndc matches at the product level.
Requires an API key: Authorization: Bearer hdev_live_.... See Authentication.
Query parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|
q | string | no | Generic name, company, presentation or therapeutic category (fuzzy, at least 3 characters) | atropine |
ndc | string | no | Product, package (any 10-digit layout) or 11-digit NDC. Matches at the product level: an entry for any package of the product, or linked to the product's label by openFDA. | 76385-129-01 |
status | "current" | "resolved" | "to_be_discontinued" | no | Only entries with this status (default: all) | current |
therapeutic_category | string | no | FDA therapeutic category (exact, case-insensitive) | Anesthesia |
limit | integer | no | Page size (max 100) | 25 |
cursor | string | no | Opaque cursor from links.next | |
view | "compact" | "full" | no | compact returns only the fields an agent usually needs (fewer tokens); full (default) returns every field | compact |
fields | string | no | Comma-separated record fields to return, e.g. code,display,billable | code,display,billable |
Examples
curl
curl "https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/drugs/shortages?q=atropine&limit=25" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $HDEV_API_KEY"TypeScript
const res = await fetch("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/drugs/shortages?q=atropine&limit=25", {
headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.HDEV_API_KEY}` },
});
const { data, meta } = await res.json();Python
import os
import requests
res = requests.get("https://api.healthcare.dev/v1/drugs/shortages?q=atropine&limit=25", headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {os.environ['HDEV_API_KEY']}"})
body = res.json()Try it
Response
Matching shortage list entries
{
"data": [
{
"id": "string",
"package_ndc": "string",
"ndc11": "string",
"generic_name": "string",
"company_name": "string",
"presentation": "string",
"dosage_form": "string",
"therapeutic_categories": [
"string"
],
"status": "current",
"availability": "string",
"shortage_reason": "string",
"related_info": "string",
"related_info_url": "string",
"resolved_note": "string",
"contact_info": "string",
"update_type": "string",
"initial_posting_date": "2026-10-01",
"update_date": "2026-10-01",
"discontinued_date": "2026-10-01",
"change_date": "2026-10-01",
"openfda": {
"product_ndcs": [
null
],
"package_ndcs": [
null
],
"brand_names": [
null
],
"generic_names": [
null
],
"manufacturer_names": [
null
],
"rxcuis": [
null
],
"application_numbers": [
null
],
"spl_set_ids": [
null
]
},
"match_score": 0
}
],
"meta": {
"source": "cms-icd10",
"data_version": "2026.1",
"retrieved_at": "2026-10-24T12:00:00Z",
"license": "Public domain (CMS). Reference data, not medical advice."
},
"links": {
"self": "/v1/drugs/shortages?q=atropine&limit=25",
"next": "/v1/drugs/shortages?q=atropine&limit=25&cursor=eyJrIjoiRTExLjkifQ"
}
}Fields
| Field | Type | Always present | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
id | string | yes | Package NDC plus the kind of entry (shortage or discontinuation), e.g. 0409-1630-10:shortage |
package_ndc | string | yes | Package NDC as FDA lists it |
ndc11 | string | null | yes | Package NDC normalized to NDC-11 |
generic_name | string | yes | FDA's shortage name, e.g. Atropine Sulfate Injection |
company_name | string | yes | |
presentation | string | yes | Strength, form and package, as FDA lists it |
dosage_form | string | null | yes | |
therapeutic_categories | string[] | yes | |
status | "current" | "resolved" | "to_be_discontinued" | yes | current = in shortage now; resolved = shortage over (kept briefly by FDA); to_be_discontinued = the manufacturer is discontinuing it |
availability | string | null | yes | FDA's availability note, e.g. Available, Limited Availability, Unavailable |
shortage_reason | string | null | yes | |
related_info | string | null | yes | |
related_info_url | string | null (uri) | yes | |
resolved_note | string | null | yes | |
contact_info | string | null | yes | Manufacturer's customer contact |
update_type | string | null | yes | New, Revised or Reverified |
initial_posting_date | string | null (date) | yes | |
update_date | string | null (date) | yes | |
discontinued_date | string | null (date) | yes | |
change_date | string | null (date) | yes | |
openfda | OpenFdaLinks | yes | |
match_score | number | yes | How well this result matches the query: 1 exact code or id, 0.9 code prefix, 0.5 to 0.9 every query word in the text (higher is closer), under 0.5 a fuzzy (typo-tolerant) match. Below 0.5, check the result before relying on it. |
Errors
Errors are application/problem+json (RFC 9457). Branch on type, not on title. See Errors.
| Status | type | When |
|---|---|---|
| 400 | invalid-request | A parameter or the body failed validation; errors lists each field. |
| 401 | unauthorized | Missing, malformed or revoked API key. |
| 404 | not-found | No record with that id (retired records are still returned). |
| 429 | rate-limited / quota-exceeded | Too many requests per second (retry after Retry-After), or the monthly quota is used up. |
| 503 | dataset-unavailable / unavailable | The dataset has no published version yet, or the service is degraded. |