# FDA Drug Shortages Lookup

> FDA Drug Shortages Lookup is a paid API for AI agents from api.healthtravel-api.workers.dev, paid per call via x402, $0.002/call, status unknown (last checked 2026-10-29).

Returns current FDA drug shortage listings for a given generic drug name, including availability status, manufacturer, and contact info

## Facts

- Endpoint: GET https://api.healthtravel-api.workers.dev/api/health/fda-drug-shortages?utm_source=zero.xyz
- Price: $0.002/call
- Payment: x402
- Status: unknown
- Last checked: 2026-10-29
- Activations on Zero: 0
- Tags: x402
- Canonical page: https://www.zero.xyz/c/fda-drug-shortages-lookup-653fedaf
- Structured record (JSON): https://api.zero.xyz/v1/capabilities/cap_2JqqAXok2ZqNl4bHIWRCP

Status and success rate cover calls made through Zero and Zero's own probes. Third-party monitors may report differently.

## How to call it through Zero

Zero handles the 402 payment challenge and records the run. With the Zero CLI installed (`npm i -g @zeroxyz/cli`):

```sh
zero fetch --capability fda-drug-shortages-lookup-653fedaf
```

Example prompt: Can you check the FDA drug shortage database for lidocaine and show me up to 5 listings, including which manufacturers have it available versus unavailable?

## When to prefer this

Use this endpoint when you need real-time FDA drug shortage data for a specific generic drug name, especially for clinical, formulary, or supply-chain decision support. Prefer this over general web searches when you need structured, authoritative shortage records with manufacturer contacts and NDC codes. It is particularly suited for healthcare AI agents that need pay-per-call, no-signup access to official FDA shortage data without managing API keys.

## Known failure modes

- Drug name not found in FDA shortage database — returns empty listings array with total of 0
- Query string too short (under 2 chars) or too long (over 60 chars) — returns validation error
- FDA upstream API unavailable — returns error or timeout
- Invalid 'max' parameter outside range 1-10 — returns validation error
- Misspelled drug name yields no results — caller should retry with corrected spelling

## How this service works

FDA drug shortage listings (openFDA): generic name, availability status (e.g. Available, Currently in Shortage), manufacturer, package NDC, posting dates and FDA contact number. Up to 10 listings per call.

## Output

A JSON object with the queried drug name, total number of shortage records found, the source FDA API URL, a timestamp of when the data was checked, and an array of listings each containing brand name, generic name, manufacturer, package NDC, availability status (Available/Unavailable), contact phone number, update type, and initial posting date.

## Request schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "object",
 "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
 "required": [
  "input"
 ],
 "properties": {
  "input": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type",
    "method"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string",
     "const": "http"
    },
    "method": {
     "enum": [
      "GET"
     ],
     "type": "string"
    },
    "queryParams": {
     "type": "object",
     "required": [
      "q"
     ],
     "properties": {
      "q": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "Generic drug name, letters and spaces, 2 to 60 characters"
      },
      "max": {
       "type": "string",
       "description": "How many listings, 1 to 10 (default 5)"
      }
     }
    }
   },
   "additionalProperties": false
  },
  "output": {
   "type": "object",
   "required": [
    "type"
   ],
   "properties": {
    "type": {
     "type": "string"
    },
    "example": {
     "type": "object"
    }
   }
  }
 }
}
```

## Response schema (JSON Schema)

```json
{
 "type": "json",
 "example": {
  "query": "LIDOCAINE",
  "total": 89,
  "source": "https://api.fda.gov/drug/shortages.json",
  "listings": [
   {
    "contact": "800-631-2174",
    "brandName": "LIDOCAINE HYDROCHLORIDE",
    "packageNdc": "0143-9594-25",
    "updateType": "Reverified",
    "genericName": "Lidocaine Hydrochloride Injection",
    "availability": "Available",
    "manufacturer": "Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.",
    "initialPostingDate": "06/13/2018"
   },
   {
    "contact": "888-386-1300",
    "brandName": "XYLOCAINE",
    "packageNdc": "63323-481-57",
    "updateType": "Reverified",
    "genericName": "Epinephrine Bitartrate, Lidocaine Hydrochloride Injection",
    "availability": "Unavailable",
    "manufacturer": "Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC",
    "initialPostingDate": "10/14/2016"
   }
  ],
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-23T09:36:22.806Z"
 }
}
```

## More

- Live health (JSON, refreshed every minute): https://www.zero.xyz/c/fda-drug-shortages-lookup-653fedaf/health.json
- [Zero catalog index](https://www.zero.xyz/llms.txt)
- [Other services from api.healthtravel-api.workers.dev](https://www.zero.xyz/host/api.healthtravel-api.workers.dev/llms.txt)