ParseForge
Drugs.com Medication Scraper
parseforge/drugs-com-scraper
BusinessOtherLead generation
Scrapes drug monograph pages from Drugs.com by starting letter or specific drug name. Returns generic name, brand names, drug class, pregnancy category, and CSA schedule for each medication.
- Total users
- 7
- Monthly active
- 2
- Total runs
- 116
- Bookmarked
- 0
- Rating
- Not rated yet
- Last modified
- 12 days ago
Overview
Drugs.com Medication Scraper
Scrape detailed medication data from Drugs.com, including side effects, dosage, interactions, and drug classes. Browse by starting letter or target specific drugs by name, and export structured rows to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
Building a medication database or researching drug information manually is slow and error-prone. This Actor reads public drug monograph pages from Drugs.com, the largest consumer health information site, and returns structured data for each medication. You can browse the entire index by starting letter or look up a custom list of drug names directly.
| Who uses it | What they scrape Drugs.com for |
|---|---|
| Healthcare data analysts | Building a structured internal database of drug monographs for research. |
| Pharmacovigilance teams | Monitoring side effect profiles and safety information across drug classes. |
| Medical content platforms | Aggregating consumer-friendly medication guides for a health portal. |
| Pharma competitive intelligence | Tracking listed indications and drug class categorizations. |
What it does
This Actor collects medication profiles from Drugs.com by browsing the A-Z index or by specific drug name, and returns each drug's details as a flat row.
- 🔤 Browse by letter: Scrape all drugs starting with a chosen letter, from A to Z, up to a million per run.
- 🎯 Target specific drugs: Provide a list of drug names like aspirin or ibuprofen to scrape only those pages directly.
- 📋 Structured output: Each drug returns with its generic name, brand names, drug class, pregnancy category, and CSA schedule.
Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.
What you can do with Drugs.com data
📊 Build a medication reference database.
A healthcare data team scrapes all drugs starting with 'a' through 'z' to populate an internal drug information system with structured monograph data.
⚠️ Monitor side effect profiles.
A pharmacovigilance analyst scrapes a list of drugs in a therapeutic class to compare listed adverse effects and safety warnings.
📝 Populate a health content portal.
A medical publisher scrapes drug monographs to seed a consumer health website with accurate, up-to-date medication guides.
🔍 Research drug classifications.
A pharmacy student scrapes a batch of drugs to study pregnancy categories, CSA schedules, and drug class assignments across medications.
Why choose this scraper
| What you get | |
|---|---|
| No API key needed | Reads public drug pages directly with no registration or approval. |
| Flexible targeting | Browse the entire index by letter or scrape a custom list of drugs. |
| Fixed schema | Every drug returns the same fields, ready for your database or analysis. |
How it compares
This Actor focuses exclusively on scraping structured drug monograph data from Drugs.com, while the competitor below combines multiple sources for broader pharmaceutical intelligence.
| Feature | ParseForge | Drug Intelligence MCP |
|---|---|---|
| Scrapes Drugs.com drug monographs | Yes | Yes |
| Browse by A-Z drug index letter | Yes | Not listed |
| Target specific drugs by name | Yes | Not listed |
| Returns pregnancy category | Yes | Not listed |
| Returns CSA schedule | Yes | Not listed |
| Clinical trial status data | Not listed | Yes |
| Patent expiry dates | Not listed | Yes |
Configure the run
Drive the Actor with a starting letter to browse the A-Z index or a list of specific drug names for targeted lookups, and set a maximum item count to cap the run. The Input tab lists every parameter.
A first run with the defaults:
{
"startLetter": "a",
"maxItems": 10
}
A larger pull:
{
"startLetter": "a",
"maxItems": 200
}
Pricing
Pay-per-result: $0.021 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.
| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $2.10 |
| 1,000 results | $21.00 |
| 10,000 results | $210.00 |
New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.
Free users
Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.
Run it
- Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
- Open the Drugs.com Medication Scraper.
- Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
- Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.
Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.
Use with AI agents (MCP)
Give an AI agent live access to Drugs.com through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/drugs-com-scraper"
Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.
Troubleshooting
Why am I getting no results?
Check that the drug names in your 'Specific Drug Names' list are spelled correctly and match Drugs.com's generic name format. If using 'Start Letter', ensure the letter has drugs indexed. Try a common letter like 'a' with a small maxItems to test.
The Actor is timing out or running slowly.
Reduce the maxItems value to scrape fewer drugs per run. If you need the full alphabet, split the work across multiple runs, one letter at a time, and use a lower concurrency setting.
Some fields are empty in the output.
Not every drug page on Drugs.com has all fields populated. Pregnancy category, CSA schedule, or drug class may be blank if the information is not available for that specific medication.
I get an error when using specific drug names.
Make sure you are entering the generic drug name, not a brand name. For example, use 'ibuprofen' instead of 'Advil'. The Actor searches the Drugs.com index by generic name.
The Actor is blocked or returning errors.
Drugs.com may rate-limit aggressive scraping. Use Apify's built-in proxy rotation and set reasonable run intervals. If the problem persists, reduce the request rate or contact support.
FAQ
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Can I scrape all drugs on Drugs.com? | Yes. Run the Actor once for each letter A through Z, setting maxItems high enough to capture all drugs under that letter. There is no single 'scrape all' button, but you can loop through the alphabet. |
| What data fields does the Actor return? | The Actor returns the generic name, brand names, drug class, pregnancy category, CSA schedule, and the full URL of the drug page. The exact field list is shown in the sample output on the Actor's page. |
| How do I scrape only a few specific drugs? | Use the 'Specific Drug Names' field in Advanced Options. Enter a list of drug names like 'aspirin' or 'metformin', and the Actor will look up only those pages, ignoring the start letter. |
| Does this Actor require a Drugs.com account or API key? | No. It reads the public drug index and monograph pages directly. No login, no API key, and no registration is needed. |
| Can I get drug interactions data? | The Actor collects the information displayed on the main drug monograph page. If interactions are listed on that page, they will be included in the structured output. |
| What is the maximum number of drugs I can scrape? | You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 per run. The actual number of drugs available under a single letter is typically much smaller. |
| How do I export the scraped data? | Your dataset is stored on Apify and can be exported to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML. You can also use the Apify API to download it programmatically. |
| Can I scrape drug prices or pharmacy listings? | This Actor focuses on the clinical drug monograph pages. It does not scrape the price comparison or pharmacy locator sections of Drugs.com. |
| Is this Actor suitable for clinical decision support? | The data comes from Drugs.com, which provides consumer health information. Always verify against official prescribing information for clinical use. |
| How often should I re-scrape for updates? | Drug monographs are updated periodically. Schedule the Actor to run weekly or monthly to keep your database current with any label changes. |
Related actors
Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.
🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.
⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Drugsite Trust. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.
Input
| Field | Type | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|---|
| startLetter | string (26 options) | Starting letter of drug names to scrape. Browse all medications that begin with this letter. | a |
| maxItems | integer | How many drugs to collect per run. | 10 |
| drugNames | array | Optional list of specific drug names to look up directly (e.g. ["aspirin", "ibuprofen"]). When provided, overrides Start Letter. | not set |
Pricing
from $19.00 per 1,000 results
| Charged for | What it is | Price each |
|---|---|---|
| result | Single result in the default dataset. | $0.019 to $0.021 |
Tiered: the lower figure is the price on a higher Apify plan. Billing and the free credit live on Apify.
API
One POST returns the dataset directly. Same shape for every scraper in the library, so swapping the slug is the only change.
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/parseforge~drugs-com-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"helloWorld": 123
}' Examples
Input that runs as-is.
{
"helloWorld": 123
} Reviews
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Issues
We build and maintain this scraper, so a problem with it comes to us. Report it on the Apify listing and the thread stays attached to the scraper where the next person can find it: open an issue.
Broken and urgent, or you would rather not post in public? Write to parseforge@protonmail.com and it reaches the people who wrote it.