Chemical
Drug Classes
File Construction
This file provides the American Hospital Formulary Service
(AHFS) Pharmacologic-Therapeutic Classification for all drugs
entered on PharmaNet regardless of PharmaCare benefit status
(i.e., inclusion in this file does not indicate that the drug
is eligible for PharmaCare coverage).
Under the AHFS Classification System,
each drug is assigned to five therapeutic categories. The top
level therapeutic class is the broadest possible classification;
the lowest level classification indicates the specific ingredient
and concentration.
Example:
| AHFS Therapeutic
Class |
Description |
| 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| 28 |
24 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
All anxiolytics, sedatives and hypnotics |
| 28 |
24 |
8 |
0 |
0 |
All benzodiazepines |
| 28 |
24 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
All diazepam products |
| 28 |
24 |
8 |
4 |
1 |
Diazepam 2 MG |
Variable Descriptions
| VARIABLE |
DESCRIPTION |
| THCL1 |
AHFS
Therapeutic Class level 1 |
| THCL2 |
AHFS
Therapeutic Class level 2 |
| THCL3 |
AHFS
Therapeutic Class level 3 |
| THCL4 |
AHFS
Therapeutic Class level 4 - Ingredient |
| THCL5 |
AHFS
Therapeutic Class level 5 - Ingredient & Concentration |
| Chemname |
Name
of the active ingredient |
File Layout
|
VARIABLE
|
DATA
TYPE
|
POSITIONS
|
| THERAPEUTIC
CLASS 1 |
CHAR |
1
- 3 |
| THERAPEUTIC
CLASS 2 |
CHAR |
4
- 6 |
| THERAPEUTIC
CLASS 3 |
CHAR |
7
- 9 |
| THERAPEUTIC
CLASS 4 |
CHAR |
10
- 12 |
| THERAPEUTIC
CLASS 5 |
CHAR |
13
- 15 |
| CHEMNAME |
CHAR |
16
- 49 |
|
