Post-market safety surveillance and recall/adverse-event RETRIEVAL across the full spectrum of FDA-regulated products that are NOT covered by the drug-AE signal skills: medical devices, food / dietary supplements / cosmetics, veterinary drugs, and drug supply (shortages). Orchestrates openFDA endpoints (MAUDE device adverse events + device recalls + 510(k), CAERS food/supplement/ cosmetic adverse events, veterinary adverse events, drug shortages, and cross-product enforcement/recall reports)....
Scanned 9/11/2026
Install to Claude Code
npx -y skills add huang-sh/DeepScience --skill tooluniverse-product-safety-surveillance --agent claude-codeInstalls into .claude/skills of the current project.
Are you the author of Tooluniverse Product Safety Surveillance?
Add the live security badge to your README — it updates automatically with every re-scan.
[](https://www.skillsdirectory.com/skills/huang-sh-tooluniverse-product-safety-surveillance)More formats (shields.io, HTML) on the badges page.
---
name: tooluniverse-product-safety-surveillance
description: >-
Post-market safety surveillance and recall/adverse-event RETRIEVAL across the
full spectrum of FDA-regulated products that are NOT covered by the drug-AE
signal skills: medical devices, food / dietary supplements / cosmetics,
veterinary drugs, and drug supply (shortages). Orchestrates openFDA endpoints
(MAUDE device adverse events + device recalls + 510(k), CAERS food/supplement/
cosmetic adverse events, veterinary adverse events, drug shortages, and
cross-product enforcement/recall reports). USE WHEN the user asks: "are there
adverse events for [device / pacemaker / infusion pump / insulin pump]",
"device recalls for [firm/product]", "supplement / vitamin / cosmetic adverse
reactions", "is [drug] in shortage", "what injectables are on shortage",
"veterinary / animal adverse events for [drug] in [dog/cat/horse]", "food
recall for listeria", "MAUDE report for [device]", "CAERS reactions for [brand]".
DO NOT USE for drug adverse-event SIGNAL detection or disproportionality
(PRR / ROR / IC) or drug-AE association scoring — that is
`tooluniverse-pharmacovigilance` / `tooluniverse-adverse-event-detection`.
This skill is multi-product surveillance and retrieval, not drug-AE
statistical signal mining.
disable-model-invocation: true
---
# Product Safety Surveillance (multi-product, openFDA)
Retrieve and interpret post-market safety records across **every FDA-regulated
product class except drug-AE signal mining**: medical devices, food / dietary
supplements / cosmetics, veterinary drugs, and drug supply (shortages), plus
cross-product enforcement/recall reports.
**KEY PRINCIPLES**
1. **Decide the product class first.** Device? Food/supplement/cosmetic? Vet drug? Drug shortage? Recall? The class picks the tool.
2. **Build a valid Lucene query.** openFDA uses field-scoped `field:value` terms; combine with a space-separated `AND`. Phrases and special characters need care (see Query Grammar).
3. **Retrieve, then interpret.** These are spontaneous/voluntary reports. Report the records and their fields; never assert causation or rates.
4. **Cite every record** with the tool name, the openFDA endpoint, the query used, and the `total` hit count from `meta.results.total`.
5. **Stay in scope.** If the request is drug-AE signal detection (PRR/ROR/IC), STOP and point to `tooluniverse-pharmacovigilance` / `tooluniverse-adverse-event-detection`.
---
## When to Use vs When NOT to Use
**USE for:**
- Device adverse events (MAUDE): "adverse events / malfunctions / deaths for [device]"
- Device recalls & enforcement: "device recalls for [firm]", "Class I device recalls"
- Device clearance context: "510(k) clearances for [device type]"
- Food / dietary-supplement / cosmetic adverse events (CAERS): "supplement reactions", "cosmetic adverse events for [brand]"
- Food recalls/enforcement: "food recall for listeria / undeclared allergen"
- Veterinary drug adverse events: "adverse events for [drug] in dogs"
- Drug shortages: "is [drug] in shortage", "injectables on current shortage"
- Drug recalls/enforcement: "drug recalls for contamination"
**DO NOT USE for** (point elsewhere):
- Drug adverse-event SIGNAL detection / disproportionality (PRR, ROR, IC) → `tooluniverse-pharmacovigilance` or `tooluniverse-adverse-event-detection`
- Drug-AE association strength scoring, demographic risk stratification of drug AEs → same two skills
- Drug efficacy, mechanism, pharmacogenomics → other tooluniverse-* skills
This skill **retrieves and interprets multi-product safety records**. It does not compute drug-AE signal statistics.
---
## Tool Map (which tool for which question)
| Product class | Question | Tool | openFDA endpoint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device | Adverse events / malfunctions / deaths (MAUDE) | `OpenFDA_search_device_adverse_events` | `/device/event.json` |
| Device | Recalls | `OpenFDA_search_device_recalls` | `/device/recall.json` |
| Device | Enforcement / recall reports | `OpenFDA_search_device_enforcement` | `/device/enforcement.json` |
| Device | 510(k) clearances (context) | `OpenFDA_search_device_510k` | `/device/510k.json` |
| Food/supplement/cosmetic | Adverse events (CAERS) | `OpenFDA_search_food_adverse_events` | `/food/event.json` |
| Food | Enforcement / recall reports | `OpenFDA_search_food_enforcement` | `/food/enforcement.json` |
| Veterinary | Animal drug adverse events | `OpenFDA_search_animalvet_adverse_events` | `/animalandveterinary/event.json` |
| Drug supply | Shortages | `OpenFDA_search_drug_shortages` | `/drug/shortages.json` |
| Drug | Enforcement / recall reports | `OpenFDA_search_drug_enforcement` | `/drug/enforcement.json` |
| Drug | Adverse events (raw FAERS records) | `OpenFDA_search_drug_events` | `/drug/event.json` |
| Drug | Labels | `OpenFDA_search_drug_labels` | `/drug/label.json` |
All tools take a Lucene `search` string plus optional `limit` and `skip`. All are keyless and verified live.
---
## openFDA Query Grammar (CRITICAL — read before querying)
- **Field-scoped term:** `field:value` (e.g. `event_type:Death`, `status:Current`).
- **Nested fields use dot paths:** `device.generic_name:pacemaker`, `products.industry_name:Cosmetics`, `animal.species:Dog`, `reaction.veddra_term_name:Vomiting`, `drug.active_ingredients.name:carprofen`.
- **Combine terms with a SPACE-separated `AND`** (verified working): `device.generic_name:pacemaker AND event_type:Death`.
- **Do NOT use `+AND+`** — the `+`-joined boolean form errors through these tools. Use a literal space around `AND`.
- **Multi-word values:** join with `+` only for adjacency within a single field value (e.g. `device.generic_name:infusion+pump`). This is matched as tokens, not an exact phrase.
- **Avoid raw special characters** (`(`, `)`, `/`, leading `+`) inside values — they break the query. Pick a simpler token (e.g. `products.industry_name:Dietary` instead of the full `Dietary Conventional Foods/Meal Replacements`).
- **Dates** are strings: device AE/MAUDE use `YYYYMMDD` (e.g. `date_received`); recalls/enforcement use `YYYY-MM-DD` (e.g. `event_date_initiated`, `recall_initiation_date`).
- **Result envelope:** every successful call returns `{status:"success", data:{meta:{results:{total, skip, limit}}, results:[...]}}`. Read the hit count from `data.meta.results.total`.
- **Counts/aggregations:** native openFDA supports `&count=<field>`; these TU wrappers center on `search`. To rank terms, retrieve a batch (e.g. `limit:100`) and tally the field yourself in Python.
---
## Interpretation Tables (raw openFDA field → meaning)
### Medical devices — MAUDE adverse events (`/device/event.json`)
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `event_type` | `Death`, `Injury`, `Malfunction`, or `No answer provided`. Death/Injury = patient harm; Malfunction = device failure without (reported) harm. |
| `device[].generic_name` / `device[].brand_name` | Device category / trade name. |
| `device[].manufacturer_d_name` | Device manufacturer. |
| `patient[]` | Patient-level outcome data (may be sparse). |
| `mdr_text[].text` | Narrative; `text_type_code` distinguishes event description vs manufacturer narrative. |
| `report_number` | MAUDE report id. **Duplicate / follow-up reports of the same event are common** — do not count reports as distinct events. |
| `date_received` | `YYYYMMDD` FDA received date. |
### Medical devices — recalls (`/device/recall.json`)
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `product_description` | What was recalled. |
| `recalling_firm` | Firm issuing the recall. |
| `recall_status` | e.g. `Open`, `Terminated`. Terminated = FDA closed the action. |
| `product_code` | FDA device product code. |
| `k_numbers[]` | Associated 510(k) clearance numbers. |
| `root_cause_description` | FDA root-cause category (e.g. `Labeling design`). |
| `event_date_initiated` | `YYYY-MM-DD` recall start. |
### Enforcement reports (device / drug / food `/.../enforcement.json`)
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `classification` | Recall severity: `Class I` (serious/fatal hazard), `Class II` (temporary/reversible), `Class III` (unlikely to cause harm). |
| `status` | `Ongoing` / `Terminated` / `Completed`. |
| `reason_for_recall` | Why recalled. |
| `product_description` | Recalled product. |
| `recalling_firm` | Firm. |
### Food / supplement / cosmetic — CAERS adverse events (`/food/event.json`)
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `reactions[]` | MedDRA reaction terms (British spelling, e.g. `Diarrhoea`, `Nausea`). |
| `outcomes[]` | e.g. `Hospitalization`, `Life Threatening`, `Disability`, `Death`, `Other Serious or Important Medical Event`, `Visited an ER`. |
| `products[].industry_name` | Product category (`Cosmetics`, `Dietary Conventional Foods/Meal Replacements`, `Milk/Butter/Dried Milk Prod`, …). |
| `products[].role` | `SUSPECT` (implicated) vs `CONCOMITANT` (also consumed). |
| `products[].name_brand` | Brand name. |
| `consumer` | `age`, `gender` of the consumer (often sparse). |
### Veterinary — animal drug adverse events (`/animalandveterinary/event.json`)
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `animal.species` | `Dog`, `Cat`, `Horse`, … |
| `animal.gender` | Animal sex. |
| `number_of_animals_affected` | Count in the report. |
| `reaction[].veddra_term_name` | VeDDRA clinical sign (e.g. `Vomiting`, `Diarrhoea`). |
| `drug[].brand_name` / `drug[].active_ingredients[].name` | Implicated product / active. |
| `drug[].used_according_to_label` / `off_label_use` | Label vs off-label use. |
### Drug shortages (`/drug/shortages.json`)
| Field | Meaning |
|---|---|
| `status` | `Current` or `Resolved`. |
| `availability` | e.g. `Unavailable`, `Limited`. |
| `generic_name` | Drug in shortage. |
| `shortage_reason` | e.g. `Delay in shipping of the drug`, `Demand increase for the drug`. |
| `dosage_form` | e.g. `Injection`, `Tablet`. |
| `therapeutic_category[]` | Clinical category. |
| `company_name` | Manufacturer. |
| `update_type` / `initial_posting_date` / `update_date` | Posting metadata. |
---
## Workflow
1. **Classify the product** from the request (device / food-supplement-cosmetic / vet / drug shortage / recall).
2. **Pick the tool** from the Tool Map.
3. **Build the Lucene query** following Query Grammar (single field for a first pass; add ` AND ` for combinations). Keep values simple; avoid special characters.
4. **Run it** and read `data.meta.results.total` and `data.results[]`.
5. **Interpret** the fields with the table above. For severity: device `event_type:Death`; enforcement `classification:Class I`; CAERS `outcomes:Death`/`Hospitalization`; shortage `status:Current`.
6. **Summarize and cite.** Report counts, key fields, the query used, and the LIMITATIONS caveat. To rank terms, pull `limit:100` and tally in Python (no `count` aggregation in these wrappers).
7. **If out of scope** (drug-AE signal/PRR/ROR), stop and route to the pharmacovigilance skills.
---
## Worked Examples (verified live)
### Example 1 — Device deaths for a device type (MAUDE)
> "Are there any reported deaths in adverse-event reports for pacemakers?"
```
OpenFDA_search_device_adverse_events {"search":"device.generic_name:pacemaker AND event_type:Death","limit":1}
```
Real output (abbrev): `status:success`, `meta.results.total = 16619`; first record `event_type = Death`, `device.generic_name = DEFIBRILLATOR/PACEMAKER`.
Interpretation: 16,619 MAUDE reports match a pacemaker device with a `Death` event type. These are spontaneous reports — duplicates likely, and "Death" means a death was reported in temporal association, not that the device caused it.
### Example 2 — Device recalls for a firm
> "What device recalls has Medtronic Navigation issued?"
```
OpenFDA_search_device_recalls {"search":"recalling_firm:Medtronic","limit":1}
```
Real output (abbrev): `total = 1896`; first record `recall_status = Terminated`, `product_code = HAW`, `root_cause_description = Labeling design`, `k_numbers = ["K990214"]`, `event_date_initiated = 2011-01-20`, `product_description` = a tactile probe for spine surgery.
Interpretation: 1,896 recall records match firms containing "Medtronic". `recall_status: Terminated` means FDA has closed this action; the root cause was a labeling-design issue.
### Example 3 — Drug shortage lookup for an injectable
> "Is ketorolac injection in shortage right now?"
```
OpenFDA_search_drug_shortages {"search":"dosage_form:Injection AND status:Current","limit":1}
```
Real output (abbrev): `total = 799`; first record `generic_name = Ketorolac Tromethamine Injection`, `status = Current`, `shortage_reason = Delay in shipping of the drug`, `availability = Unavailable`, `company_name = Fresenius Kabi USA, LLC`.
Interpretation: 799 current shortage records are injectables; ketorolac tromethamine injection is currently in shortage (status `Current`, availability `Unavailable`) due to a shipping delay.
### Example 4 — Supplement / cosmetic CAERS reactions
> "Are there CAERS adverse-event reports implicating cosmetics?"
```
OpenFDA_search_food_adverse_events {"search":"products.industry_name:Cosmetics","limit":1}
```
Real output (abbrev): `total = 52214`; first record `products[].industry_name = Cosmetics`, `products[].role = SUSPECT`, `outcomes = ["Hospitalization","Other Serious or Important Medical Event"]`.
Interpretation: 52,214 CAERS reports name a cosmetic product as `SUSPECT`. CAERS is voluntary; a `SUSPECT` role reflects the reporter's attribution, not a verified causal link.
### Example 5 — Veterinary adverse events for a drug in a species
> "What adverse events are reported for carprofen in dogs?"
```
OpenFDA_search_animalvet_adverse_events {"search":"drug.active_ingredients.name:carprofen AND animal.species:Dog","limit":1}
```
Real output (abbrev): `total = 46469`; first record `animal.species = Dog`, `reaction[].veddra_term_name` includes `Leucocytosis NOS`, `Neutrophilia`, `Depression`, `Elevated alanine aminotransferase (ALT)`.
Interpretation: 46,469 veterinary reports match carprofen-containing products in dogs. VeDDRA terms describe reported clinical signs; counts reflect reporting, not incidence.
---
## Limitations (state these in every report)
- **Spontaneous / voluntary reports.** MAUDE (device), CAERS (food/supplement/cosmetic), FAERS (drug), and the animal/vet system are passive surveillance. Reports are **unverified** and a report is not a confirmed causal event.
- **No causation, no denominator.** Counts (`meta.results.total`) are report counts, not incidence or rates. There is no exposure denominator, so you cannot compute risk.
- **Reporting bias.** Serious events, new products, recalls, and media/regulatory attention drive reporting spikes (Weber effect). High counts may reflect usage volume or attention, not hazard.
- **Duplicate reports.** MAUDE in particular contains follow-up/duplicate reports of the same event; do not treat report counts as event counts.
- **CAERS voluntary & sparse.** Consumer/age/gender fields are often missing; `SUSPECT` role is reporter attribution.
- **This skill does not compute signal statistics** (PRR/ROR/IC). For drug-AE disproportionality use `tooluniverse-pharmacovigilance` / `tooluniverse-adverse-event-detection`.
- **Data currency:** each response carries a `meta.last_updated` date; openFDA lags real-world events.
See `references/openfda_fields.md` for the full per-endpoint field reference and additional query examples.
---
## References
- openFDA: https://open.fda.gov
- MAUDE (device adverse events): https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/mandatory-reporting-requirements-manufacturers-importers-and-device-user-facilities
- Device recalls / 510(k): https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices
- CAERS (food/supplement/cosmetic): https://www.fda.gov/food/compliance-enforcement/cfsan-adverse-event-reporting-system-caers
- Drug shortages: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-shortages
- Recall classifications: https://www.fda.gov/safety/industry-guidance-recalls
Is this your skill, or is something wrong with this listing? Request removal or report an issue. Author removals are honored within 72 hours.
No comments yet. Be the first to comment!