There are two U.S. drug shortage lists people search for: the FDA drug shortages database and the ASHP list. They measure different things. Here is how to search the FDA list on the website and through openFDA, how it differs from ASHP's, and how ClinicaLister links each FDA shortage to the affected drug, its approvals and its trials.
The FDA Drug Shortages Database lists current and resolved drug shortages and discontinuations reported to or identified by FDA. Each entry names the generic drug, the companies and presentations affected, availability notes, the therapeutic category, the date the shortage was first posted and the date it was last updated.
FDA also publishes the same data through openFDA's drug shortages endpoint, one record per affected presentation, with a status of Current, To Be Discontinued or Resolved.
The ASHP list is a separate list, compiled by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists with the University of Utah Drug Information Service. It uses a broader definition: it covers all drugs and lists a supply problem once a manufacturer confirms a national disruption. FDA focuses on medically necessary drugs and posts a shortage after confirming it is market-wide, so the FDA list is generally shorter. Hospital pharmacists often track both.
The FDA list is free on fda.gov and through openFDA; ASHP's list is on ashp.org.
From FDA's drug shortages page, open the Drug Shortages Database and search by generic name or active ingredient. The database covers current shortages, resolved shortages and discontinuations.
Open an entry to see each affected presentation (strength, form, package), the company and availability notes, with the date the shortage was first posted and last updated.
Query https://api.fda.gov/drug/shortages.json — for example search=status:"Current" — to get the list as JSON. Add count=status to see how many presentations are current, to be discontinued or resolved.
Because ASHP lists a disruption once a manufacturer confirms it, a product can appear there before (or without) appearing on FDA's list. Check both when a supply problem matters to you.
openFDA records carry package NDCs. Use them to tie a shortage to specific marketed products and their application numbers.
ClinicaLister groups FDA records by generic drug and posting date and links them, through package NDCs, to the affected FDA applications and products — so a shortage shows up on the drug itself.
See the shortage beside the drug's approvals, NADAC price, competing products and the trials testing it, the context needed to judge market impact.
Shortage changes for drugs linked to the trials you follow appear in the Monitoring view, alongside other regulatory changes.
Each edition of the free Pulse report lists newly reported shortages for the week, built from the same data.
Through the ClinicaLister MCP server, Claude and other assistants can check shortages for a drug in plain language alongside its approvals and trials.
390+
FDA shortage records (by drug and posting date)
Daily
refresh from openFDA
100+
currently in shortage
ClinicaLister uses FDA's list via openFDA — it does not include the ASHP list. Records are grouped by generic name and initial posting date, so counts differ from openFDA's per-presentation total. Counts as of September 2026.
ASHP, with the University of Utah Drug Information Service, covers all drugs and lists a shortage once a manufacturer confirms a national supply disruption. FDA focuses on medically necessary drugs and posts a shortage after confirming it affects the whole market, so its list is generally shorter.
On fda.gov, in the Drug Shortages Database linked from FDA's drug shortages page, searchable by generic name or active ingredient. The same data is available through openFDA at api.fda.gov/drug/shortages.json.
Each presentation is marked Current (in shortage), To Be Discontinued (the manufacturer is discontinuing it) or Resolved.
No. ClinicaLister uses FDA's list through openFDA, refreshed daily, and links each shortage to the affected drug. Use ashp.org for ASHP's list.
See shortages on the drug, next to its approvals and trials
Built for the Market Access / HEOR. See it in the product: Drug & Device Details. All data sources