Medications API — Drug Catalog, OTC and Rx Classification

The Medications API exposes MELIKA’s drug catalog for use across the platform — from patient-facing drug information pages to physician prescribing workflows. Medications are classified as either OTC (over-the-counter, no prescription required) or Rx (prescription-only), are linked to medical specialties for contextual filtering, and carry structured presentation data. All read endpoints are public with no authentication required, though write operations are restricted to admin routes at the application layer.

OTC vs Rx Classification

OTC — Over the Counter

Medications available without a prescription. Suitable for display in patient-facing catalogs, symptom checkers, and general wellness flows. Filtered with tipo=OTC.

Rx — Prescription Only

Medications that require a physician’s prescription. These appear in clinical workflows, physician prescribing panels, and are referenced inside clinical records. Filtered with tipo=Rx.

Data Model

The medicamentos table stores the full drug profile including commercial identity, active ingredient, lab origin, and specialty linkage.

Field	Type	Notes
`id`	integer	Primary key
`nombre_comercial`	VARCHAR(150)	Brand/commercial name
`principio_activo`	VARCHAR(150)	Generic active ingredient name
`principio_activa`	VARCHAR(150)	Legacy duplicate of `principio_activo` — both are kept in sync on write
`laboratorio`	VARCHAR(100)	Manufacturing laboratory
`categoria`	VARCHAR(100)	Legacy text category field (superseded by `id_especialidad`)
`id_especialidad`	integer	FK → specialties (contextual linkage for catalog filtering)
`tipo`	ENUM	`OTC` or `Rx` (enforced by CHECK constraint)
`descripcion`	TEXT	Clinical description
`indicaciones`	TEXT	Clinical indications
`posologia`	TEXT	Dosage guidance
`contraindicaciones`	TEXT	Contraindications
`presentaciones`	TEXT	Available forms and dosages (e.g. tablets, syrup)
`registro_invima`	VARCHAR(50)	INVIMA registration number (unique when set)
`imagen_url`	VARCHAR(255)	URL to product image
`activo`	boolean	Only `TRUE` records appear in public queries. Default `TRUE`
`created_at`	timestamp	Auto-generated
`updated_at`	timestamp	Auto-updated

All public-facing endpoints (GET /medicamentos, GET /medicamentos/:id) return only active medications (activo = TRUE). Inactive entries are accessible only via the admin route.

Endpoints

GET /medicamentos

Returns a filtered list of active medications. Supports three independent query filters that can be combined freely: tipo restricts by prescription class, id_especialidad restricts by specialty linkage, and buscar performs a case-insensitive full-text search across both nombre_comercial and principio_activo. Results are ordered alphabetically by nombre_comercial. Authentication: None (public)

tipo

string

Filter by prescription classification. Accepted values: OTC, Rx. Omit to return both types.

id_especialidad

string

Filter by specialty. Pass a numeric specialty ID to restrict results to medications linked to that discipline. Pass "Todos" or omit entirely to return medications across all specialties.

buscar

string

Case-insensitive search string applied via ILIKE against both nombre_comercial and principio_activo. Partial matches are supported.

[].id

integer

Medication identifier.

[].nombre_comercial

string

Commercial/brand name (e.g. "Metformina 500").

[].principio_activo

string

Generic active ingredient (e.g. "metformina").

[].laboratorio

string

Manufacturing laboratory name.

[].tipo

string

"OTC" or "Rx".

[].descripcion

string

Clinical description of the medication.

[].presentaciones

string

Available forms and dosages.

[].imagen_url

string

URL to the product image.

[].id_especialidad

integer

ID of the linked specialty (nullable).

[].activo

boolean

Always true in public responses.

curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/medicamentos"

Example — GET /medicamentos?tipo=Rx&buscar=metformina:

[
  {
    "id": 14,
    "nombre_comercial": "Metformina 500",
    "principio_activo": "metformina",
    "laboratorio": "Laboratorios GenFar",
    "tipo": "Rx",
    "descripcion": "Antidiabético oral de la clase biguanida. Reduce la producción hepática de glucosa.",
    "presentaciones": "Tabletas 500mg, 850mg, 1000mg",
    "imagen_url": "https://storage.example.com/meds/metformina.jpg",
    "id_especialidad": 4,
    "activo": true
  }
]

Combine tipo=Rx with a buscar term to power a physician-side drug search widget during prescription creation.

GET /medicamentos/admin

Returns all medications including inactive ones (activo = FALSE) for administrative management. Intended for use in admin dashboards where operators manage the drug catalog. Authentication: None at route level (enforced at the admin layer)

[].id

integer

Medication identifier.

[].nombre_comercial

string

Commercial name.

[].principio_activo

string

Active ingredient.

[].laboratorio

string

Manufacturing laboratory.

[].tipo

string

"OTC" or "Rx".

[].activo

boolean

Active status — includes both true and false records.

curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/medicamentos/admin"

GET /medicamentos/categorias

Returns a deduplicated list of specialty names (not IDs) that have at least one active medication linked to them. This powers category filter UIs in medication browsers, letting patients or physicians narrow results to a specific discipline before applying further filters. Authentication: None (public)

[]

string

Array of specialty name strings (e.g. ["Cardiología", "Endocrinología", "Pediatría"]). Each value corresponds to the nombre field of a specialty that has at least one active medication linked via id_especialidad.

curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/medicamentos/categorias"

Example response:

[
  "Cardiología",
  "Endocrinología",
  "Medicina General",
  "Neurología",
  "Pediatría"
]

GET /medicamentos/:id

Retrieves the full profile of a single active medication by its ID. Returns 404 if the medication does not exist or is inactive. Authentication: None (public)

integer

required

The medication’s unique identifier.

integer

Medication identifier.

nombre_comercial

string

Commercial/brand name.

principio_activo

string

Generic active ingredient.

laboratorio

string

Manufacturing laboratory.

tipo

string

"OTC" or "Rx".

descripcion

string

Clinical description.

indicaciones

string

Clinical indications.

contraindicaciones

string

Contraindications.

presentaciones

string

Available forms and dosages.

registro_invima

string

INVIMA registration number.

imagen_url

string

Product image URL.

id_especialidad

integer

Linked specialty ID.

activo

boolean

Active status (true for all public responses).

created_at

string

ISO 8601 creation timestamp.

updated_at

string

ISO 8601 last-updated timestamp.

Show Error Responses

Status	Condition
`400`	Provided `id` is not a valid number
`404`	No active medication found with the given `id`

curl -X GET "http://localhost:3000/medicamentos/14"

Example response:

{
  "id": 14,
  "nombre_comercial": "Metformina 500",
  "principio_activo": "metformina",
  "laboratorio": "Laboratorios GenFar",
  "tipo": "Rx",
  "descripcion": "Antidiabético oral de la clase biguanida. Reduce la producción hepática de glucosa.",
  "indicaciones": "Diabetes mellitus tipo 2",
  "contraindicaciones": "Insuficiencia renal severa",
  "presentaciones": "Tabletas 500mg, 850mg, 1000mg",
  "registro_invima": "M-1234-56",
  "imagen_url": "https://storage.example.com/meds/metformina.jpg",
  "id_especialidad": 4,
  "activo": true,
  "created_at": "2024-01-15T10:00:00.000Z",
  "updated_at": "2024-06-01T08:30:00.000Z"
}

POST /medicamentos

Creates a new medication entry in the catalog. The request body uses short field names (nombre, principio, presentacion) that the controller maps to the corresponding database column names. This route is exposed through the /medicamentos path and is also mirrored under /admin/medicamentos (with different field names — see the Admin API). Authentication: None at route level (enforced at the admin layer)

nombre

string

required

The brand or commercial name of the medication. Stored as nombre_comercial.

tipo

string

required

Prescription classification. Must be exactly "OTC" or "Rx".

principio

string

Active ingredient(s). Stored in both principio_activo and principio_activa columns.

descripcion

string

Free-text description of the medication.

presentacion

string

Physical form / presentations (e.g. "Tabletas 500 mg"). Stored as presentaciones.

activo

boolean

Whether the medication is active in the catalog. Defaults to true.

laboratorio

string

Name of the pharmaceutical laboratory.

id_especialidad

integer

Optional link to a specialty ID (used for catalog filtering).

imagen_url

string

URL of the medication’s product image.

curl -X POST http://localhost:3000/medicamentos \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "nombre": "Atorvastatina 20",
    "principio": "atorvastatina",
    "tipo": "Rx",
    "descripcion": "Inhibidor de la HMG-CoA reductasa. Indicado para la reducción del colesterol LDL.",
    "presentacion": "Tabletas 10mg, 20mg, 40mg",
    "laboratorio": "Pfizer",
    "id_especialidad": 1
  }'

PUT /medicamentos/:id

Fully updates an existing medication record. Uses the same short field names as POST /medicamentos. Setting activo=false removes the medication from all public-facing queries without deleting the record. Authentication: None at route level (enforced at the admin layer)

integer

required

The ID of the medication to update.

nombre

string

Updated commercial name. Stored as nombre_comercial.

principio

string

Updated active ingredient. Stored as principio_activo and principio_activa.

tipo

string

Updated classification: "OTC" or "Rx".

descripcion

string

Updated clinical description.

presentacion

string

Updated presentation forms and dosages. Stored as presentaciones.

activo

boolean

Set to false to deactivate and hide from public listings.

laboratorio

string

Updated laboratory name.

id_especialidad

integer

Updated specialty linkage.

imagen_url

string

Updated product image URL.

curl -X PUT http://localhost:3000/medicamentos/14 \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "nombre": "Metformina 500",
    "principio": "metformina",
    "tipo": "Rx",
    "presentacion": "Tabletas 500mg, 850mg, 1000mg; Solución oral 500mg/5ml",
    "activo": true
  }'

Authentication

Appointments

Doctors & Schedules

Clinical Records

Catalog

Admin

Medications API — Drug Catalog, OTC and Rx Classification

OTC vs Rx Classification

OTC — Over the Counter

Rx — Prescription Only

Data Model

Endpoints

GET /medicamentos

GET /medicamentos/admin

GET /medicamentos/categorias

GET /medicamentos/:id

POST /medicamentos

PUT /medicamentos/:id

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Authentication

Appointments

Doctors & Schedules

Clinical Records

Catalog

Admin

Documentation Index

​OTC vs Rx Classification

OTC — Over the Counter

Rx — Prescription Only

​Data Model

​Endpoints

​GET /medicamentos

​GET /medicamentos/admin

​GET /medicamentos/categorias

​GET /medicamentos/:id

​POST /medicamentos

​PUT /medicamentos/:id

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

OTC vs Rx Classification

Data Model

Endpoints

GET /medicamentos

GET /medicamentos/admin

GET /medicamentos/categorias

GET /medicamentos/:id

POST /medicamentos

PUT /medicamentos/:id