get-drug-by-name

Server OpenFDA ythalorossy/openfda

Category Read

Risk class Low

Parameters 00 required

WHAT IT DOES

What get-drug-by-name does on OpenFDA

AI agents call get-drug-by-name to retrieve information from OpenFDA without modifying anything — typically the context-gathering step in research, monitoring, and reporting workflows, before the agent takes action elsewhere.

WHY IT NEEDS A POLICY

Why get-drug-by-name needs a policy

Even though get-drug-by-name only reads data, uncontrolled read access leaks sensitive information and racks up API costs — an agent caught in a retry loop can make thousands of calls a minute without anyone noticing.

Attacks that exploit this kind of access

Questions about get-drug-by-name

What does the get-drug-by-name tool do? +

Get drug by name. Use this tool to get the drug information by name. The drug name should be the brand name. It returns the brand name, generic name, manufacturer name, product NDC, product type, route, substance name, indications and usage, warnings, do not use, ask doctor, ask doctor or pharmacist, stop use, pregnancy or breast feeding. It is categorised as a Read tool in the OpenFDA MCP Server, which means it retrieves data without modifying state.

How do I enforce a policy on get-drug-by-name? +

Register the OpenFDA MCP server in PolicyLayer and add a rule for get-drug-by-name: allow, deny, rate-limit, or require approval. Point your MCP client at the PolicyLayer proxy URL and the rule is enforced on every call, before it reaches OpenFDA. Nothing to install.

What risk level is get-drug-by-name? +

get-drug-by-name is a Read tool with low risk. Read-only tools are generally safe to allow by default.

Can I rate-limit get-drug-by-name? +

Yes. Add a rate_limit block to the get-drug-by-name rule in your PolicyLayer policy. For example, setting max: 10 and window: 60 limits the tool to 10 calls per minute. Rate limits are tracked per agent session and reset automatically.

How do I block get-drug-by-name completely? +

Set action: deny in the PolicyLayer policy for get-drug-by-name. The AI agent will receive a policy violation error and cannot call the tool. You can also include a reason field to explain why the tool is blocked.

What MCP server provides get-drug-by-name? +

get-drug-by-name is provided by the OpenFDA MCP server (ythalorossy/openfda). PolicyLayer sits as a proxy in front of this server to enforce policies before tool calls reach the server.