RxNorm Release Notes
April Release - 04/01/2013
This release of RxNorm is consistent with the 2012AB UMLS Metathesaurus release. For additional information about RxNorm releases, including scripts for loading the RxNorm data into Oracle and MySQL databases, read the RxNorm technical documentation.
Sources
The following sources have been updated since the previous RxNorm release:
| Source Name | SAB | Date Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Gold Standard Drug Database | GS | 03/07/2013 |
| Medi-Span Master Drug Data Base | MDDB | 03/06/2013 |
| Multum MediSource Lexicon | MMSL | 03/01/2013 |
| Micromedex RED BOOK | MMX | 03/04/2013 |
| FDA Structured Product Labels | MTHSPL | 03/26/2013 |
| FDB MedKnowledge (formerly NDDF Plus) | NDDF | 03/13/2013 |
| Veterans Health Administration National Drug File | VANDF | 03/05/2013 |
The following sources have not been updated since the previous RxNorm release:
| Source Name | SAB | Date Updated |
|---|---|---|
| FDA National Drug Code Directory | MTHFDA | 06/01/2011 |
| Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) | MSH | 08/28/2012 |
| Veterans Health Administration National Drug File - Reference Terminology | NDFRT | 02/04/2013 |
| SNOMED Clinical Terms (drug information) | SNOMEDCT | 01/31/2013 |
Data Changes
This release will include two important changes to brand names:
- TTY=BN concepts that have no source-provided atoms and do not have relationships to any SUPPRESS=N concepts will now be marked as SUPPRESS=O and will not be included in the Current Prescribable Content subset. Prior to this release, all TTY=BN concepts were marked as SUPPRESS=N. With these data changes, users can easily identify and ignore obsolete TTY=BN concepts.
- Multi-ingredient branded drugs containing the same ingredients will no longer be differentiated by appending the strengths of each ingredient to the end of the brand name. For example, there will no longer be ‘Percocet 5/325’, ‘Percocet 10/325’, or ‘Percocet 10/650’. The brand name for each of these will simply be ‘Percocet’. Similarly, some extra words or letters (e.g., PE, Forte, etc.) that are not neccesary to distinguish between two drugs were dropped from the end of brand names. These data changes will be propagated throughout the RxNorm graph, so all related branded concepts (TTY=BN/SBD/SBDC/SBDF/SBDG) will reflect the same brand name. These data changes are meant to reduce the complexity of using RxNorm for allergy reporting by providing a single brand name for drugs containing the same ingredients.
Data Counts
| Term Type or Attribute | Number |
|---|---|
| Active GPCK forms | 334 |
| Active BPCK forms | 409 |
| Active SCD forms | 20,070 |
| Active SBD forms | 12,016 |
| Active RXNORM MIN atoms | 3,822 |
| Active RXNORM IN atoms | 8,422 |
| Active RXNORM PIN atoms | 2,050 |
| Active RXNORM BN atoms | 7,550 |
| Active RXNORM DF atoms | 104 |
| Obsolete GPCK forms | 102 |
| Obsolete BPCK forms | 76 |
| Obsolete SCD forms | 13,602 |
| Obsolete SBD forms | 8,318 |
| Obsolete RXNORM MIN atoms | 0 |
| Obsolete RXNORM IN atoms | 0 |
| Obsolete RXNORM PIN atoms | 0 |
| Obsolete RXNORM BN atoms | 7,925 |
| Obsolete RXNORM DF atoms | 51 |
| Editor-suppressed SCD forms | 1,061 |
| Editor-suppressed SBD forms | 973 |
| OCD atoms | 308,705 |
| Source-asserted NDC codes | 1,223,110 |
| Distinct Source-asserted NDC codes | 547,427 |
| SAB=RXNORM NDC codes | 191,614 |
| Distinct SAB=RXNORM NDC codes | 191,614 |
Last Reviewed: April 1, 2013