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Unified Medical Language System® (UMLS®)

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RxNorm Release Notes

March Release - 3/02/2020

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_2020_01_30
Gold Standard Drug Database GS GS_2020_02_11
Multum MediSource Lexicon MMSL MMSL_2020_02_01
Micromedex RED BOOK MMX MMX_2020_02_03
FDA Structured Product Labels MTHSPL MTHSPL_2020_02_21
FDB MedKnowledge (formerly NDDF Plus) NDDF NDDF_2020_02_12
RxNorm normalized names and codes RXNORM RXNORM_19AB_200302F
US Edition of SNOMED CT (drug information) SNOMEDCT_US SNOMEDCT_US_2020_01_31
USP Compendial Nomenclature USP USP_2020_02_06
Veterans Health Administration National Drug File VANDF VANDF_2020_01_30


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

Source NameSABVersion
Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical Classification System ATC ATC_2020
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) MSH MSH2020_2019_08_27
CMS Formulary Reference File MTHCMSFRF MTHCMSFRF_2014

*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

Improving Inactive and Off-Market Data Representation

RxNorm has implemented new quality assurance (QA) processes to identify Structured Product Labeling (SPL) content considered inactive by the FDA and various drug compendia. Therefore, the March release will have a significant reduction in active data and a large increase in obsolete data. SPL atoms, RxNorm normalized names, and NDCs will be impacted. Additional steps will be implemented moving forward as well.

The RxNorm Team is also working with drug compendia to more correctly represent their obsolete and off-market data. As a result, users may see additional active content decrease over the next several months.


Data Counts

Term Type or AttributeNumber
Active GPCKs431
Active BPCKs518
Active SCDs17276
Active SBDs10061
Active RXNORM MINs3803
Active RXNORM INs12474
Active RXNORM PINs2941
Active RXNORM BNs5650
Active RXNORM DFs119
  
Obsolete GPCKs208
Obsolete BPCKs183
Obsolete SCDs17835
Obsolete SBDs11021
Obsolete RXNORM MINs0
Obsolete RXNORM INs0
Obsolete RXNORM PINs0
Obsolete RXNORM BNs6279
Obsolete RXNORM DFs62
Editor-suppressed SCDs1755
Editor-suppressed SBDs1484
SAB=RXNORM NDCs237341
Distinct SAB=RXNORM NDCs237341

Last Reviewed: March 2, 2020