National ADHD Medication Shortage Still Affecting Students Almost A Year Later
A year later, students are still facing difficulties receiving their ADHD medications. Credit: Haley Lawrence, via Unsplash
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a national shortage of Adderall in October 2022, and its effects are still being felt almost a year later.
On Aug. 1, 2023, the FDA and the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) released a joint letter to the public regarding the national prescription stimulant shortage and the actions being taken to resolve it.
The medication is used for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and binge eating disorder, and has been in short supply since last fall due to a combination of manufacturing delays and high prescription rates of the medication.
In New York State the shortage is making itself known, with big chain pharmacies like Walmart, CVS and Rite Aid having a backorder on Adderall.
Allison Radcliffe ‘26 said she had trouble over the summer receiving her ADHD medication.
“Your doctor would put in the prescription, and you would get a call that says, ‘Oh, your medication is here,’ and you go in and they would say ‘Oh, only one of them is here. And it’s not your ADHD meds,’” said Radcliffe.
Data from the FDA has shown that there has been 45.5% increase in dispensing of stimulants, including amphetamines, from 2012 to 2021. In addition, a report from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also found that from 2020 to 2021 percentages of prescriptions in certain age groups increased by more than 10% while virtual prescribing was allowed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Radcliffe also described the differences she notices when she doesn’t take her medication.
“If I don’t take it I’ll get really tired partway through the day because I just take so much more energy to try and stay focused in class. If I do take it, I’m less tired because I spend less energy consciously forcing myself to dial in,” said Radcliffe.
Set by the DEA, there are quotas for how much of these drugs can be produced. For amphetamine medications, manufacturers did not produce the full amount permitted by the quota in 2022. The DEA conducted an internal analysis of manufacturing, inventory, and sales data provided by the manufacturers, and found that they only sold around 70% of their quota for the year.
“There were approximately 1 billion more doses that they could have produced but did not make or ship. Data for 2023 so far show a similar trend,” the FDA and DEA stated in their letter.
To help herself stay focused when she was unable to get her medication, Radcliffe said she kept a stricter schedule during the day to stay on track.
“I had to make sure, like, ‘You go to bed at this time, you wake up at this time. You have your coffee at this specific time of day.’ I had to alter a little bit of different aspects of my life,” said Radcliffe.
In order to resolve the shortage, the FDA is working with healthcare providers to support appropriate diagnosis and treatment of ADHD.
“We will continue to work together and with all of you to mitigate this drug shortage and provide up to date information,” the FDA and DEA concluded.