How to look up a drug on DailyMed

A name search for atorvastatin on DailyMed returns 408 labeling documents, according to the National Library of Medicine's web service⁵ for the database published Nov. 2, 2026. Each is a separate filing with FDA by a company that makes, repackages or relabels a product containing the cholesterol drug. The DailyMed home page¹ put the whole collection at 158,962 labelings on Nov. 3.

That volume is the reason the site is worth learning. A patient with a question about a filler ingredient, a caregiver trying to match a tablet to its label, or a reader who wants the full prescribing text behind a pharmacy leaflet can usually find the answer there for free. Using it well means knowing how to narrow 400 results to the one that matches a bottle, and where the site's own disclaimers draw the line.

Inside the database, and its disclaimers

The National Library of Medicine, an institute of the National Institutes of Health, provides DailyMed to the public and does not accept advertisements. Its About page² lists the contents: prescription and nonprescription drugs for human use, animal drugs, medical gases and certain devices, plus regulated but unapproved products such as cosmetics, dietary supplements, medical foods and unapproved drugs.

NLM describes the labels as the most recent labeling submitted to FDA by companies and "currently in use." Its disclaimer is specific. In-use labeling "may not be identical to the most recent FDA-approved" labeling or the labeling distributed with products, its contents "may not have been verified by FDA," and "NLM does not review any SPL content prior to publication." For FDA-approved text, NLM points readers to Drugs@FDA⁸, and FDA itself offers the FDALabel⁹ search tool.

How a label is built

Every label on DailyMed is a Structured Product Labeling file. FDA describes SPL⁶ as a document markup standard approved by Health Level Seven (HL7) and adopted by the agency for exchanging product and facility information. Each section of a label carries a numeric code, which is what lets DailyMed's advanced search³ look inside one section at a time, such as the Boxed Warning Section (34066-1), the Description Section (34089-3), the SPL Medguide Section (42231-1) or the SPL Patient Package Insert Section (42230-3).

SPL files also feed FDA's drug listing system. FDA's NDC Directory page⁷ says the directory is built from information labelers submit in SPL electronic listing files, and that the content of each entry "is the responsibility of the labeler." A label keeps one Set ID across revisions, while each version gets its own document ID.

Searching by name or by NDC

A name search is the broad net. The results include brand and generic versions, repackaged and relabeled products, and combination products that contain the drug, with the labeler's name in brackets after each title. GxRadar ran seven common generics through the DailyMed web service.

Counts are from DailyMed's v2 web service for the database published Nov. 2, 2026, and include repackager labels and combination products.

An NDC search is the precise one, because the National Drug Code identifies a labeler, a product and a package. Advanced search accepts an NDC directly. If a bottle came from a repackager, its label often lists the repackager's own NDC with the source manufacturer's NDC in parentheses, which helps when the two companies' names differ. Our explainer on reading an NDC covers the segments, and a pharmacist can read the exact NDC dispensed from the fill record.

Finding inactive ingredients and imprints

Inactive ingredients appear in two places. The Description section of the prescribing information lists them in prose, and a structured ingredients table near the bottom of the page lists each one with its strength where relevant. Advanced search can also filter on an inactive ingredient by name or by its UNII code. On one atorvastatin 40 mg label checked for this article, the list included lactose monohydrate, croscarmellose sodium, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polysorbate 80, talc and titanium dioxide. Another maker's tablet can use different fillers, which is one of the real differences our piece on generic and brand drugs describes. For an allergy or intolerance question, the pharmacist can confirm which product is in the bottle before anyone relies on a label found online.

The same table carries a Product Characteristics block with color, score, shape, size in millimeters and imprint code. That atorvastatin label describes a white, oval, film-coated tablet, 15 mm long and unscored, with the imprint "ATO;40." DailyMed notes that NLM's RxImage API ceased operation on Dec. 31, 2021¹ and that pill images supplied by labelers with their SPL files remain. Our guide to why a pill changes color explains what an imprint mismatch can and cannot tell you.

Package insert, Medication Guide and Patient Information

A prescription label on DailyMed bundles several documents. The Prescribing Information, often called the package insert, is written for clinicians. NLM describes it as a summary of the essential scientific information needed for safe and effective use, including boxed warnings, indications, dosage, contraindications, warnings, adverse reactions and drug interactions. Over-the-counter products carry Drug Facts instead.

FDA-approved patient labeling follows the prescribing text, usually after section 17, Patient Counseling Information. It comes in three forms. A Medication Guide is required for certain drugs with serious risks; the generic sertraline label GxRadar checked ends with one, opening with "What is the most important information I should know about sertraline hydrochloride tablets?" A Patient Information leaflet, also called a patient package insert, appears on many others, including the atorvastatin and metformin labels we checked. Instructions for Use, in FDA's description, accompany drugs with complicated or detailed patient-use instructions. Our explainer on Medication Guides and patient package inserts covers when each is required.

Labels change, and the version online may be newer than the leaflet that came with a fill. DailyMed keeps a Labeling Archives section of earlier versions, and the web service reports each label's published date and version number. Developers who want the data in bulk can use the DailyMed web services⁴, which return SPL documents by Set ID, their version histories and the NDCs tied to each label, and our guide to checking a recall uses DailyMed to match an NDC from a notice.