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Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS®)

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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

Dose Form Changes

As part of continuous content improvement, two dose forms are no longer available in RxNorm: Topical Cake and Prefilled Applicator. RxNorm names with the Prefilled Applicator dose form have been changed to Prefilled Syringe.

USP Completed

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce that the January release includes the final section of United States Pharmacopeia Compendial Nomenclature (USP) injectable content. This completes the addition of USP to RxNorm. RxNorm will include regular updates from USP moving forward.

RxNorm 2020 Monthly Release Schedule

The full RxNorm data set is released on the first Monday of each month. During months when the first Monday is a Federal holiday, RxNorm is released on the first Tuesday.
The monthly release schedule for 2020 is:

DateDay
January 6 Monday
February 3 Monday
March 2 Monday
April 6 Monday
May 4 Monday
June 1 Monday
July 6 Monday
August 3 Monday
September 8 Tuesday
October 5 Monday
November 2 Monday
December 7 Monday

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: January 6, 2020