get_hc_drug_products: Retrieve Drug Products from Health Canada Drug Product...

In MedxR: Access Drug Regulatory Data via FDA and Health Canada APIs

Retrieve Drug Products from Health Canada Drug Product Database

Description

Retrieves information on all drug products listed in the Health Canada Drug Product Database (DPD) using the RESTful API endpoint /drug/drugproduct.

Optionally, a partial product name can be provided to filter the results to products that contain the search term in their brand name.

Usage

get_hc_drug_products(name = NULL)

Arguments

name	Optional. A character string representing a partial or complete name of the drug product to filter results. If omitted, returns all available products.

Details

This function sends a GET request to the Health Canada Drug Product Database API. It supports caching via the memoise package to avoid redundant calls, and respects a rate limit between successive API requests.

If the API request fails, returns no matches, or returns an error status code, the function returns NULL with an informative message.

Value

A tibble with the following columns:

• drug_code: Unique code identifying the drug product

• class_name: Class of drug (e.g., Human, Veterinary)

• din: Drug Identification Number (DIN)

• brand_name: Brand or trade name of the product

• number_of_ais: Number of active ingredients

• ai_group_no: Active ingredient group number

• company_name: Manufacturer name

• last_update_date: Date of last update in the database

Note

Requires an internet connection.

Source

Health Canada Drug Product Database (DPD) API: https://health-products.canada.ca/api/documentation/dpd-documentation-en.html

See Also

GET, fromJSON, as_tibble

Examples

  # This function requires an internet connection and downloads data from Health Canada

  # Retrieve all products
  get_hc_drug_products()

  # Retrieve products matching a partial name
  get_hc_drug_products("acetaminophen")

MedxR documentation built on Jan. 14, 2026, 5:08 p.m.