OpenFDA app unlocks troves of data | Healthcare IT News

"The idea behind the app version of OpenFDA Search was to make adverse event reports easily accessible to both providers and patients, making it one of the first apps to harness FDA data and reports.    Created by Social Health Insights, the app allows a user to enter search criteria, including a range of dates when the adverse drug event was reported, patient age, country, manufacturer, medication brand name, reaction, pharmacologic class, drug indication and product NDC, or pick and choose from that list, then hit a 'show me the data' button ... It's too early to tell for certain whether OpenFDA Search is technically the very first app to harness the data and reports released by the FDA, but Social Health Insights CTO and Co Founder Mark Silverberg said it's 'the first search interface for the newly released API.'  Silverberg, in fact, had the app ready to demonstrate at this week's Health Datapalooza, and OpenFDA Search Co-founder Brian Norris noted the current iteration is a beta version, so there may be bugs. He's encouraging testers to contact them if they encounter problems.  Since OpenFDA Search is nascent, Norris said the project as of now is a donation for the betterment of humanity -- and he and Silverberg have yet to think through a commercialization strategy ..."