June Release - 06/01/2015
This release of RxNorm is consistent with the 2015AA 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 | 05/14/2015 |
| Medi-Span Master Drug Data Base | MDDB | 05/06/2015 |
| Multum MediSource Lexicon | MMSL | 05/01/2015 |
| Micromedex RED BOOK | MMX | 05/04/2015 |
| FDA Structured Product Labels | MTHSPL | 05/22/2015 |
| FDB MedKnowledge (formerly NDDF Plus) | NDDF | 05/13/2015 |
| Veterans Health Administration National Drug File - Reference Terminology | NDFRT | 06/01/2015 |
| NDFRT FDASPL relationships | NDFRT_FDASPL | 06/01/2015 |
| NDFRT FMTSME relationships | NDFRT_FMTSME | 06/01/2015 |
| Veterans Health Administration National Drug File | VANDF | 04/16/2015 |
The following sources have not been updated in this release:
| Source Name | SAB | Date Updated |
|---|---|---|
| Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System | ATC | 2015 |
| Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) | MSH | 01/26/2015 |
| CMS Formulary Reference File | MTHCMSFRF | 2014 |
| FDA National Drug Code Directory | MTHFDA | 06/01/2011 |
| US Edition of SNOMED CT (drug information) | SNOMEDCT_US | 01/31/2015 |
Data Changes
Ingredient Splits
Two base ingredients (TTY=IN), doxycycline and nitrofurantoin, now have related precise ingredients (TTY=PIN). Doxycycline exists as doxycycline hyclate and doxycycline monohydrate. Nitrofurantoin exists as nitrofurantoin monohydrate and nitrofurantoin macrocrystals. Where applicable, drugs (TTY=SCD/SBD/GPCK/BPCK) including the base ingredients now include the precise ingredients instead.
New Injectable Dose Forms
As part of the ongoing prescribable names (TTY=PSN) work, we will be modifying the RxNorm model for normalized names for injectable products. Currently, injectable products in RxNorm fall into one of four dose forms: -Prefilled Syringe -Injectable Solution -Injectable Suspension -Injectable Foam
For prescribable names of injectable products, more granularity is required. To achieve this, the set of dose forms for injectable products will be expanded to nine dose forms: -Prefilled Syringe -Injectable Solution -Injectable Suspension -Injectable Foam -Auto-Injector -Cartridge -Injection -Jet Injector -Pen Injector
Injectable products, currently grouped into four dose forms, will be split into the proposed nine dose forms. We will split 'Auto-Injector', 'Jet Injector', 'Cartridge', and 'Pen Injector' products out from 'Prefilled Syringe' products. We will split 'Injection' products out from 'Injectable Solution' and 'Injectable Suspension' products. ‘Injectable Foam’ products will remain unchanged. Where possible, we will preserve RXCUIs, though drugs moved to new dose forms will require new RXCUIs.
Currently, single-use and multi-use injectable solutions and suspensions have their strengths expressed as a concentration, such as milligrams per milliliter (MG/ML). For single-use solutions and suspensions, we will begin expressing the total quantity of medication rather than the concentration. The dose form for these products will be 'Injection'. For example, a 500 MG single-use vial of ceftazidime will have 'Ceftazidime 500 MG Injection' as a normalized name.
For the June release, RxNorm includes three of the new injectable dose forms: Auto-Injector, Cartridge, and Injection. These new dose forms occur in a few new drugs and some drugs that were in line to be modified in RxNorm already.
We will release more of these changes in batches in the monthly releases. We expect to complete this injectables project by early 2016.
We would like to thank the RxNorm stakeholders who provided input on the proposed changes to the RxNorm model for injectable products. We welcome any additional feedback: rxnorminfo@nlm.nih.gov
Data Counts
| Term Type or Attribute | Number |
|---|---|
| Active GPCKs | 363 |
| Active BPCKs | 417 |
| Active SCDs | 20021 |
| Active SBDs | 10666 |
| Active RXNORM MINs | 3959 |
| Active RXNORM INs | 10562 |
| Active RXNORM PINs | 2419 |
| Active RXNORM BNs | 6460 |
| Active RXNORM DFs | 106 |
| Obsolete GPCKs | 123 |
| Obsolete BPCKs | 109 |
| Obsolete SCDs | 14670 |
| Obsolete SBDs | 9857 |
| Obsolete RXNORM MINs | 0 |
| Obsolete RXNORM INs | 0 |
| Obsolete RXNORM PINs | 0 |
| Obsolete RXNORM BNs | 9172 |
| Obsolete RXNORM DFs | 57 |
| Editor-suppressed SCDs | 1150 |
| Editor-suppressed SBDs | 1008 |
| OCD atoms | 336413 |
| Source-asserted NDCs | 1355311 |
| Distinct source-asserted NDCs | 614088 |
| SAB=RXNORM NDCs | 206178 |
| Distinct SAB=RXNORM NDCs | 206178 |
Last Reviewed: June 1, 2015