Where the data comes from
Product records, packaging and pill appearance are parsed from DailyMed
Structured Product Labeling — the labels manufacturers file with the FDA.
Regulatory fields come from the openFDA NDC Directory, and drug
classifications from RxClass.
How current it is
The database is refreshed weekly from DailyMed's incremental release and
reconciled against DailyMed's own published list, so withdrawn labels are
flagged rather than silently disappearing. openFDA data is refreshed daily.
Known limits
Not every labeler reports imprint, colour and shape, so appearance search
cannot cover every product. Where a drug classification is disputed
between the labeler's own filing and NLM's curation, both are shown rather
than one being picked silently.