FDA Officially Declares a Shortage of Adderall (npr.org) 66
An anonymous reader quotes a report from NPR: The FDA has confirmed the nation is experiencing a shortage of Adderall after many pharmacies around the country have been unable to fill prescriptions and keep up with demand. The drug, which is also known as mixed amphetamine salts, is used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy. "We will continue to monitor supply and assist manufacturers with anything needed to resolve the shortage and will update our website with new supply information as it becomes available," the FDA said.
Expected recovery times for manufacturers' supplies of the prescription vary. Teva Pharmaceuticals, which sells the most Adderall in the U.S., has a 10 mg dosage of Adderall that is expected to rebound in October. But many of its generic brand offerings aren't expected to recover until March 2023. Manufacturer SpecGX's higher doses won't recoup until January 2023, while Rhodes Pharmaceuticals has a shortage of an active ingredient. Bloomberg health reporter Ike Swetlitz told NPR last month the shortages began due to a labor shortage at Teva, causing production delays that began showing up at other companies. Additionally, an increase in ADHD diagnoses has been driving up demand for Adderall in recent years.
Expected recovery times for manufacturers' supplies of the prescription vary. Teva Pharmaceuticals, which sells the most Adderall in the U.S., has a 10 mg dosage of Adderall that is expected to rebound in October. But many of its generic brand offerings aren't expected to recover until March 2023. Manufacturer SpecGX's higher doses won't recoup until January 2023, while Rhodes Pharmaceuticals has a shortage of an active ingredient. Bloomberg health reporter Ike Swetlitz told NPR last month the shortages began due to a labor shortage at Teva, causing production delays that began showing up at other companies. Additionally, an increase in ADHD diagnoses has been driving up demand for Adderall in recent years.
Labor shortage (Score:3, Informative)
In other words the market declined the pay from Teva.
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And you fellate random crack addicts on the street and wonder why you aren't rich...
Thanks Dems (Score:1, Funny)
Adderall abuse is the only way for Democrats cope with Biden leadership.
Re:Thanks Dems (Score:4, Funny)
Naw, we smoke pot.
A Pox (Score:2)
But then how will I... (Score:5, Funny)
Sadly this is news for nerds (Score:3, Insightful)
My own feeling is that adhd is over diagnosed. Once people get aderol they like it not because it cures their perhaps non existent ADHD but because it's speed and speed is pleasurable and addictive. So they report getting more done and feeling better thus confirming the incorrect diagnosis as being correct due to inevitably positive patient feedback.
If you go off it after being on it you do indeed feel like it's harder to get things done. But really this is just a combination of the dopamine receptor hom
Re:Sadly this is news for nerds (Score:4, Informative)
So they report getting more done and feeling better
That's because they get more done and feel better. Adderall is not a placebo. It works. There are many peer-reviewed studies of its efficacy in treating ADHD.
Efficacy of Adderall for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A meta-analysis [sagepub.com]
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They don't actually get more done for long. It's very addictive, and the inevitable dosage mistakes cause social and workplace disasters that outweigh its benefits.
Re: Sadly this is news for nerds (Score:2)
A drug is either beneficial or not (Score:5, Insightful)
My own feeling is that adhd is over diagnosed. Once people get aderol they like it not because it cures their perhaps non existent ADHD but because it's speed and speed is pleasurable and addictive.
Doesn't matter if you're taking it for ADHD or something else. A drug either is beneficial or not. If the benefits outweigh the side effects, who cares what the diagnosis is? If someone responds well to ADHD drugs and doesn't actually meet YOUR qualifications for ADHD, does it really matter?
Also, the stuff isn't particularly addictive. Half my family is on it and takes it as needed. My daughter has no problem going off it on weekends, nor does my wife. It doesn't seem any more addictive than coffee. Having seen it so much in my personal life, I don't have any concerns with people going on it, especially with medical supervision. It really works wonders.
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If the benefits outweigh the side effects, who cares what the diagnosis is? If someone responds well to ADHD drugs and doesn't actually meet YOUR qualifications for ADHD, does it really matter?
That's actually a pretty deep question.
It's well known that kids from families with more wealth have an advantage in education and in careers. Better diet, better access to healthcare, healthier lifestyle.
It's generally thought that things like paying to genetically modify your kids to be smarter is problematic. So somewhere between being able to afford a good diet and a private tutor, and paying a doctor to enhance your otherwise healthy child, there seems to be a line which many people feel it is unfair o
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Now that overprescribing is taking off, it's only a matter of time until the drug war focus shifts from opioids back to amphetamines. I hope you're saving those unused pills somewhere, because when they start threatening the doctors with felonies, they're not going to be writing the prescriptions anymore. Ask anyone who's needed pain management in the last 5 years.
Re: A drug is either beneficial or not (Score:2)
So true.
Re: A drug is either beneficial or not (Score:1)
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My own feeling is that adhd is over diagnosed
That's nice. And you know this ... how?
If I said that I just felt that heart ailments were over-diagnosed and that heart medication was over-prescribed, I'd get the Lord of the Flies treatment here more than I already do ... but for some reason with psychiatry, Slashdotters ain't gonna trust them no high-falutin doctors ...
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I don't know, it seems to me that statins are quite possibly being pushed a bit too hard, and for many people they have side effects which reduce quality of life. I'm not sure how much flak you'd get for saying something like that, but I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Also, there are numerous problems with psychiatry as it's currently practiced. It's become an assembly l
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Re:Poison shortage. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Poison shortage. (Score:5, Informative)
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The global population might have a chance to become healthy if not being poisoned on a daily basis by big pharma and big ag.
Life expectancies have continued to consistently increase globally for decades, and big pharma and big ag are part of that success. Covid has created a small blip but will not change the trend. But what are statistics to get in the way of a good we are all gonna die rant anyway?
Coincidence? (Score:2, Interesting)
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The diagnoses of "neuro-atypical disorders" have blossomed, along with gender dysphoria. I'm afraid the high profit margins of medical treatment have encouraged both to be over-prescribed.
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Please forgive my poor description. The disorders are over-diagnosed in order to provide the very profitable, over-prescribed treatments.
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Also happening at the same time.... (Score:2)
a large drop off in code quality.....
Parents, watch for public schools pushing ADHD (Score:5, Insightful)
Public schools are pre-disposed to track kids into ADHD treatment, in my opinion. This is especially true for young boys who can't/won't sit still. Watch those people like an eagle. They think they're on a mission from God, "fixing" those mis-behaving boys.
ADHD is a real thing, and when you see the real thing, you'll understand that fidgety young kids and just being kids and they will grow out of it.
Re:Parents, watch for public schools pushing ADHD (Score:4, Interesting)
Public schools are pre-disposed to track kids into ADHD treatment, in my opinion.
Female teachers are four times more likely to recommend a child for ADHD screening than male teachers.
This is especially true for young boys who can't/won't sit still.
Male teachers deal with this by making the kid run laps around the playground during recess.
We need more men in elementary education, especially in the early grades.
Re: Parents, watch for public schools pushing ADHD (Score:2)
"Female teachers are four times more likely to recommend a child for ADHD screening than male teachers."
Meaningless unless the ratio of male to female teachers are known, it's not even close to 50/50.
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Meaningless unless the ratio of male to female teachers are known
The male/female ratio is irrelevant. The higher probability applies to the teachers individually, not as a collective group.
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Public schools are pre-disposed to track kids into ADHD treatment, in my opinion. This is especially true for young boys who can't/won't sit still. Watch those people like an eagle. They think they're on a mission from God, "fixing" those mis-behaving boys.
ADHD is a real thing, and when you see the real thing, you'll understand that fidgety young kids and just being kids and they will grow out of it.
This. I was very fidgety as a young boy and the school thought I had a problem. My father told them that I had had a bad year (parents got divorced) and that I was naturally high strung anyways. After awhile, I settled down just fine.
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Re:Parents, watch for public schools pushing ADHD (Score:5, Insightful)
If you give amphetamines to a hyperactive child that doesn't have ADHD, then you'll just make them more hyper.
It's not a doping medication that makes people zone out, it's fucking amphetamines.
People afflicted with ADHD have an impaired uptake of dopamine in the brain, specifically the frontal cortex which controls executive skills (ie. focus & organisation). This leads the brain to crave the dopamine it needs to function, which externally presents itself as stimuli seeking behaviour and increased physical activity, hyperactivity.
Now give amphetamines to someone with this condition, and they'll find it easier to maintain focus without having to find external stimuli.
Give amphetamines/speed to someone who has a healthy dopamine uptake, and it'll likely shoot their energy levels through the roof & make them restless.
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Now, I apologise in advance for the rant that's about to follow, but this topic touches a very personal nerve.
I'm tired to FUCK of armchair psychiatrists spreading their poorly informed bullshit about what they think ADHD is. This rhetoric stops people taking the condition seriously & makes parents distrust medical professionals. You are harming people!
I was diagnosed & put on Ritalin at an early age, but due to know-it-alls filling my family's head with this shit for years, we decided to ignore the professional medical practitioners' advice & cut the medication in my early teens. In hindsight, I can now see how damaging that was.
I've always been a well-studied & driven person, but my time management & related executive skills are a big Achilles heel. I didn't manage to complete university & whilst very technically able, my unreliability in managing long term projects really kneecapped me professionally. It nearly cost me a marriage.
I've now been back on meds for the best part of a decade, & it's been life changing. My life is organised (relatively), I've founded 2 successful tech businesses, I finally got myself through uni, I salvaged my marriage, & now I have an amazing son.
Now, I forgive you, misinformed internet armchair people. But please, for the love of all, stop mischaracterising what you don't understand & undermining trained medical professionals. You are harming people!
But there's plenty of meth around (Score:2)
Yet somehow, there is no shortage of crystal meth, a closely related drug.
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Production is a lot cheaper if you don't have to pay your slaves.
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Meth is mostly made by independent contractors in the back woods.
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Here in the Netherlands, the "back woods" are the province of brabant, and it's the #1 world exporter of synthetic drugs. Used to be a big moonshine producer, but illegal drugs are more profitable.
Drug that is over prescribed has supply shortage. (Score:4, Funny)
They're going to be up all night (Score:4, Funny)
They're going to be up all night working on a solution to this problem... or maybe not.
For all intensive purposes (Score:1)
Google can be your friend
Good (Score:2, Insightful)
Maybe we will have fewer zombie kids. This drug is way, way over prescribed. The real issue is we have kids growing up in single parent homes that don't get the attention they need because Mom or Dad is trying to hold down two jobs just to make ends meet. But nobody wants to talk about it lest they get labelled as a racist or anti-woman or elitist.
Instead we pump these kids full of drugs that do nothing but mask the real issues. While we're at it give them an iPhone so they can zone out on TikTok all day. O
Re:Good (Score:5, Insightful)
This drug is way, way over prescribed.
If you knew anything about this drug then you would know that's not true. First, it's a Schedule II drug which means doctors are quite reluctant to prescribe it in the first place. Secondly, as a Schedule II drug, it is also a pain in the ass because they will only give you a 60 day supply between doctor visits so that they can monitor you far more closely.
The real issue is we have kids growing up in single parent homes that don't get the attention they need because Mom or Dad is trying to hold down two jobs just to make ends meet. But nobody wants to talk about it
Interesting take because the point you are inadvertently making is that the root cause is that the minimum wage has not kept up with the cost of living. It used to be a singular minimum wage job could provide for an entire family.
I hope you aren't voting for Republicans because they consistently vote against raising the minimum wage which as you point out is the real problem.
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It used to be a singular minimum wage job could provide for an entire family.
Seriously? Please name the year when that was true. Federal minimum wage basically guarantees that those new to the job force or those doing entry level jobs aren't [entirely] taken advantage of, and not much more.
I made minimum wage back in the 70's at $2.30/hr (so take home pay after 40/hr/wk would have been about $360/mon at best) and there's no way a single person could live on that by themselves much less provide for a family, and I lived in a cheap state at the time. It's only gotten worse since be
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Seriously? Please name the year when that was true. Federal minimum wage basically guarantees that those new to the job force or those doing entry level jobs aren't [entirely] taken advantage of, and not much more.
The Fair Labor Standards Act was introduced by President Roosevelt in 1938, creating a mandatory federal minimum wage of 25 cents an hour in order to maintain a "minimum standard of living necessary for health, efficiency and general well-being, without substantially curtailing employment".
I made minimum wage back in the 70's at $2.30/hr (so take home pay after 40/hr/wk would have been about $360/mon at best) and there's no way a single person could live on that by themselves much less provide for a family, and I lived in a cheap state at the time. It's only gotten worse since because minimum wage hasn't kept up with inflation.
There is a simple explanation for that: the price of housing exploded [pinimg.com] and nobody did anything to tame it or compensate for it.
I'd say your statement is complete fiction.
It's unfortunate that things have gotten so twisted and so screwed up that the very idea that a
Re:Good (Score:5, Interesting)
Amphetamines can hardly be described as having a doping zombie effect.
ADHD is caused by a dopamine deficiency.
Kids on amphetamines, with ADHD, are able to sit still & concentrate more easily without having to seek stimuli externally.
Kids on amphetamines, without ADHD, will become over stimulated & turn the house upside down.
Stop this misinformed rhetoric, it's harmful!
(See my earlier comment [slashdot.org].)
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ADHD is caused by a dopamine deficiency.
Please stop spreading this misinformation.
it's harmful!
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Problem solves itself? (Score:3, Funny)
Can we give the employees of the Adderall factories Adderall so they will be more alert and focused, and so better at making more Adderall? I feel like this problem may solve itself.
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Rule Number 1, Don't get high on your own supply.
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How?
Supply and demand (Score:5, Interesting)
I work in mental health, and unfortunately, I spend an enormous amount of my time explaining to people all the reasons why I don't want to prescribe Adderall to them. (I do sometimes prescribe it when there's a clear and compelling reason. But mostly, I don't).
I happen to work in a clinic where most of our clients are young urban professionals. They are people who walked through the door because *they* wanted to see a psychiatrist-- not because they were brought there by other interested parties (parents, nursing home staff, police, etc). How many people do you think come to us looking for antidepressants like Prozac or Zoloft? How many do you think come to us looking for Adderall? I'll give you a hint: One of these products is far, far more attractive and in-demand than the other.
About three years ago I started giving all my prospective patients a detailed handout explaining all the reasons why I probably would *not* be willing to give them Adderall. It's made my life easier. Before that, something like 75% of my patients were looking for Adderall. Now it's only 25% or so.
In the two decades before the pandemic, the number of Adderall prescriptions went up about six-fold. In the past 2 1/2 years since the pandemic started, that number has shot up even more-- I haven't seen any hard estimates yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if it has increased by another factor of two. The reasons are pretty obvious to anyone in the industry. It's easy to meet with a doctor online now, because when the pandemic hit, the insurance companies agreed to let us start doing that. An Adderall prescription is now just a few mouse clicks and a Zoom meeting away. And there has been a whole cottage industry of companies that sprouted up during the pandemic to capitalize on that. A couple of the companies got greedy, and got a little too obvious about what they were doing, and they wound up crashing and burning (e.g. "Cerebral" and "Done"). But those companies were probably just the tip of the iceberg.
It doesn't help that the official diagnostic criteria for ADHD are hopelessly vague, always have been. Almost anyone qualifies for a diagnosis, if you interpret the criteria loosely enough.
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I didn't see that coming (Score:2)
Bummer! (Score:2)
How are people going to be able to clean their bathroom tile joints with their toothbrush without this?
time to treat cause not symptoms (Score:2)
It's going to Ukraine (Score:1)
It isn't talked about much, but the government is shipping tons of the stuff to Ukraine right now. It's used heavily by soldiers on the front lines.