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Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS®)

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RxNorm Release Notes

May Release - 5/04/2020

This full release of RxNorm is consistent with the 2020AA 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
DrugBank DRUGBANK DRUGBANK5.0_2020_04_02
Gold Standard Drug Database GS GS_2020_04_09
Multum MediSource Lexicon MMSL MMSL_2020_04_01
Micromedex RED BOOK MMX MMX_2020_03_30
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) MSH MSH2020_2020_01_15
FDA Structured Product Labels MTHSPL MTHSPL_2020_02_28
FDB MedKnowledge (formerly NDDF Plus) NDDF NDDF_2020_04_01
RxNorm normalized names and codes RXNORM RXNORM_20AA_200504F
Veterans Health Administration National Drug File VANDF VANDF_2020_03_30


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

Source NameSABVersion
Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System ATC ATC_2020
Vaccines Administered CVX CVX_2020_02_12
CMS Formulary Reference File MTHCMSFRF MTHCMSFRF_2014
US Edition of SNOMED CT (drug information) SNOMEDCT_US SNOMEDCT_US_2020_01_31
USP Compendial Nomenclature USP USP_2020_02_06

*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

Reduction in Active National Drug Codes (NDCs)

Over 2,500 NDCs will no longer be active in the RxNorm dataset based on package marketing status in the FDA Structured Product Labeling (MTHSPL) data source. The SUPPRESS value for these NDCs in the RXNSAT.RRF file will change from SUPPRESS = ‘N’ in the RxNorm April 2020 release to SUPPRESS = ‘Y’ in the May 2020 release.

Ingredients and Precise Ingredients Now Lower Case

Ingredients, with term type equal to ‘IN’ (TTY=’IN’), and precise ingredients (TTY = ‘PIN’) are now represented with lower case lettering if it is not a proper noun. This impacts over 6,500 ingredients and precise ingredients. For example, in the RxNorm April 2020 release, the RxNorm vocabulary (SAB=’RXNORM’) represented RXCUI 161 as “Acetaminophen”. Beginning with the May 2020 release, RXCUI 161 will now be represented as “acetaminophen”.


Data Counts

Term Type or AttributeNumber
Active GPCKs436
Active BPCKs511
Active SCDs17317
Active SBDs9975
Active RXNORM MINs3744
Active RXNORM INs12587
Active RXNORM PINs2969
Active RXNORM BNs5589
Active RXNORM DFs121
  
Obsolete GPCKs217
Obsolete BPCKs198
Obsolete SCDs17572
Obsolete SBDs11145
Obsolete RXNORM MINs0
Obsolete RXNORM INs0
Obsolete RXNORM PINs0
Obsolete RXNORM BNs6348
Obsolete RXNORM DFs62
Editor-suppressed SCDs1763
Editor-suppressed SBDs1486
SAB=RXNORM NDCs239378
Distinct SAB=RXNORM NDCs239378

Last Reviewed: May 4, 2020