RxNorm API (RxNav)

by lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov

Health Added on November 7th, 2026 Checked and working on November 7th, 2026

What it does

The RxNorm API from the US National Library of Medicine gives normalised names and codes for clinical drugs, with their ingredients, strengths, brand names and links between them, for example to match drug names typed by users to standard codes. Responses are JSON or XML. Free, no key needed.

API
HTTP-GET
JSON
REST
XML

At a glance

API key: Not needed · More APIs with no key
Pricing: Free, no key needed.
From the browser: Yes (CORS)
Formats: JSON, XML
Interface: REST, HTTP-GET
Provider: lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov
Last checked: Working on November 7th, 2026

More information: https://lhncbc.nlm.nih.gov/RxNav/APIs/RxNormAPIs.html

Is this your service? Show that it is listed

Put this badge on your website or in your README; it links to this page. About the badge

HTML

<a href="https://free-web-services.com/web-services/open-data/health/rxnorm-api.html"><img src="https://free-web-services.com/badge.svg" width="208" height="44" alt="Listed on Free Web Services" /></a>

Markdown

[![Listed on Free Web Services](https://free-web-services.com/badge.svg)](https://free-web-services.com/web-services/open-data/health/rxnorm-api.html)

Example request

curl

curl 'https://rxnav.nlm.nih.gov/REST/drugs.json?name=aspirin'

JavaScript

const response = await fetch("https://rxnav.nlm.nih.gov/REST/drugs.json?name=aspirin");
const data = await response.json();
console.log(data);

Python

import requests

response = requests.get(
    "https://rxnav.nlm.nih.gov/REST/drugs.json?name=aspirin",
    timeout=30,
)
print(response.json())

The JavaScript works in a web page as well as in Node.js 18 or newer.