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Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS®)

RxNorm Release Notes

January Release - 1/06/2020

This full release of RxNorm is consistent with the 2019AB 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 with version names in bold have been updated since the previous RxNorm release:

Source NameSABVersion
Vaccines Administered CVX CVX_2019_12_16
DrugBank DRUGBANK DRUGBANK5.0_2019_11_27
Gold Standard Drug Database GS GS_2019_12_11
Multum MediSource Lexicon MMSL MMSL_2019_12_01
Micromedex RED BOOK MMX MMX_2019_12_02
FDA Structured Product Labels MTHSPL MTHSPL_2019_12_27
FDB MedKnowledge (formerly NDDF Plus) NDDF NDDF_2019_12_11
RxNorm normalized names and codes RXNORM RXNORM_19AB_200106F
Veterans Health Administration National Drug File VANDF VANDF_2019_11_30


The following sources have not been updated since the previous RxNorm release:

Source NameSABVersion
Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System ATC ATC_2019
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) MSH MSH2020_2019_08_27
CMS Formulary Reference File MTHCMSFRF MTHCMSFRF_2014
US Edition of SNOMED CT (drug information) SNOMEDCT_US SNOMEDCT_US_2019_07_31
USP Compendial Nomenclature USP USP_2019_08_19

*Reminder: As of October 2017, Medi-Span data will not be included in the RxNorm or UMLS releases. If you have questions about Medi-Span, please contact: medispan-support@wolterskluwer.com.


Data Changes

New Units of Measure for Supplements

Starting with the December release, units of measure on RxNorm normal forms for dietary supplements will change to better align with recent guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This will be a long-term project and changes will occur as updated drug labels are received. Further information about the FDA guidance is available at the following link:
https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-provides-guidance-industry-convert-units-measure-certain-nutrients-nutrition-and-supplement

New Qualitative Distinction

Qualitative Distinction (QD) modifiers allow flexibility in the RxNorm model to create a new RxNorm Concept Unique Identifier (RXCUI) when needed. The new QD “Micronized” distinguishes certain products containing the ingredient isotretinoin.

The December 2019 release includes new QDs for the following active concepts:

RXCUITerm Type (TTY)String
2262729 SCD Micronized Isotretinoin 8 MG Oral Capsule
2262731 SBD Micronized Isotretinoin 8 MG Oral Capsule [Absorica]
2262711 SCD Micronized Isotretinoin 16 MG Oral Capsule
2262713 SBD Micronized Isotretinoin 16 MG Oral Capsule [Absorica]
2262714 SCD Micronized Isotretinoin 20 MG Oral Capsule
2262715 SBD Micronized Isotretinoin 20 MG Oral Capsule [Absorica]
2262717 SCD Micronized Isotretinoin 24 MG Oral Capsule
2262719 SBD Micronized Isotretinoin 24 MG Oral Capsule [Absorica]
2262721 SCD Micronized Isotretinoin 28 MG Oral Capsule
2262723 SBD Micronized Isotretinoin 28 MG Oral Capsule [Absorica]
2262725 SCD Micronized Isotretinoin 32 MG Oral Capsule
2262727 SBD Micronized Isotretinoin 32 MG Oral Capsule [Absorica]

For each SCD or SBD with a QD, there is an associated attribute in RXNSAT with the attribute name (ATN) of 'RXN_QUALITATIVE_DISTINCTION'. The December release contains the following new attribute value (ATV) to match the QD strings found in the SCD and SBD normalized names:

Data Counts

Term Type or AttributeNumber
Active GPCKs414
Active BPCKs502
Active SCDs18608
Active SBDs10266
Active RXNORM MINs3813
Active RXNORM INs12454
Active RXNORM PINs2928
Active RXNORM BNs5809
Active RXNORM DFs117
  
Obsolete GPCKs207
Obsolete BPCKs183
Obsolete SCDs16543
Obsolete SBDs11009
Obsolete RXNORM MINs0
Obsolete RXNORM INs0
Obsolete RXNORM PINs0
Obsolete RXNORM BNs6292
Obsolete RXNORM DFs62
Editor-suppressed SCDs1776
Editor-suppressed SBDs1483
SAB=RXNORM NDCs248899
Distinct SAB=RXNORM NDCs248899

Last Reviewed: December 2, 2019