Medicine Finder
Reference medicine information, with its source shown
Look up medicines from permitted public sources — every entry labelled with provenance and a last-reviewed date.
Coming online. The searchable medicine index is being connected to the NHS Medicines A–Z. In the meantime, for authoritative information consult the NHS Medicines A–Z, the BNF and the product SmPC.
How it works
Provenance you can trust
- Permitted sources onlyContent is drawn from approved public APIs such as NHS.UK — never scraped.
- Labelled & datedEach entry shows its source and last-reviewed date.
- Reference, not adviceAlways verify against the SmPC, BNF and local formulary.
Safety note. For education and reference only. Not a substitute for clinical judgement, the official product labelling, or local policy.
The thinking behind it
Reference that respects where information comes from
Reliable medicine information is only as good as its source and its currency. A description of what a drug treats, how it is taken or what to watch for can change as evidence and labelling are updated, so a reference that does not tell you when it was last reviewed quietly becomes a liability. The Medicine Finder is built around that concern. Rather than aggregating text from wherever it can be found, it draws on permitted public sources — chiefly the NHS Website Content API behind the NHS Medicines A–Z — and surfaces a provenance label and a last-reviewed date with each entry. We do not scrape, and we do not dress reference information up as a substitute for the official product labelling.
The search above is in the process of being connected to that NHS source. While it is being wired in, the tool sends you straight to the authoritative places — the NHS Medicines A–Z, the BNF and the product Summary of Product Characteristics — rather than showing incomplete data. That restraint is deliberate: in medicines information, a confident answer with no traceable source is worse than no answer at all.
Getting the most from it
How to look something up
- Search by nameEnter a generic or brand name — for example amoxicillin — to find the matching entry.
- Check the label and dateRead the provenance label and last-reviewed date so you know how current the information is.
- Confirm before actingTreat the entry as orientation and verify the detail against the SmPC, the BNF and your local formulary.
Where it sits in the toolkit
The finder answers the descriptive question — what a medicine is and what it is for. For side-effect and safety content, and for reporting routes, move across to the Drug Safety & Side-Effect Checker. When a clinical score points you towards a drug, you can run the score in our calculators and then look the medicine up here. The standards governing how we label and date every entry are set out in our Quality & Editorial Policy.
Building a product that needs medicines data? We help teams integrate permitted, source-labelled content responsibly — see the request option below.
Answers
Frequently asked questions
Where does the medicine information come from?
We use permitted public sources such as the NHS Website Content API (Medicines A–Z) and clearly label provenance and the last-reviewed date on each entry. We never scrape, and we do not present this as a substitute for the official product labelling.
Can I rely on this for prescribing?
No. This is an education and reference resource only. Always check the current Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC), the BNF and local formulary before prescribing or administering any medicine.
Does it check interactions?
The finder provides reference information. For interaction and safety checking, see our forthcoming Drug Safety & Side-Effect Checker and always confirm against authoritative sources.
Can I search by brand name or only by generic name?
You can search by either. Entering a generic name (such as amoxicillin) or a brand name will find the matching entry. Once it is live, each result will show its provenance label and last-reviewed date so you can judge how current it is.
Why is the search not returning results yet?
The index is being connected to the NHS Medicines A–Z so that every entry can carry a source label and a review date. Until that is complete, the tool points you to the NHS Medicines A–Z, the BNF and the product SmPC rather than showing partial data.
Want medicine data in your product?
We help teams integrate permitted, source-labelled medicines content safely.