RxNorm March 2020 Release

RxNorm March 2020 Release. NLM Tech Bull. 2020 Mar-Apr;(433):b1.

The RxNorm March monthly release became available for download on Monday, March 2, 2020 and has a significant drop in active data and a large increase in obsolete data resulting from new quality assurance (QA) processes.

RxNorm implemented new QA processes to improve the representation of inactive and off-market data. For example, Structured Product Labeling (SPL) content considered inactive by the FDA and various drug compendia were identified and marked as obsolete. Therefore, the March release has a significant reduction in active data and a large increase in obsolete data compared to the February 2020 release. SPL atoms, RxNorm normalized names, and National Drug Codes (NDCs) were 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, RxNorm users may see additional active content decrease over the next several months.