Even pharmaceutical company giant Teva, Oliva pointed out-the largest manufacturer of generic Adderall- has said the ongoing shortage is caused in part by DEA limits. A 2015 federal report called for the agency to do a better job coordinating with the FDA around controlled substance shortages. The DEA tends to be “as conservative as possible”-drug busts are its focus, not whether people can get their prescriptions.Ĭriticism of the DEA’s management of addressing controlled substance shortages is not new. The DEA tends to be “as conservative as possible,” Oliva told me-drug busts are the agency’s focus, not whether people can secure their prescriptions. I asked Jennifer Oliva, Indiana University law professor and Georgetown health law scholar, whether we’d still be in this mess if the DEA had addressed the shortages by raising its quotas in December. The DEA typically addresses quota issues at the end of the calendar year. As a 2016 study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry suggests, people who used Adderall for non-medical reasons were much more likely to go to the emergency room for health concerns. But some research shows that this risk is higher for people who use these drugs recreationally, not those prescribed them for medical reasons. Like most medications, stimulants can be misused. Cannabis, meanwhile, is a Schedule I drug with “ no currently accepted medical use.” Basically, some of the scheduling is questionable. Many ADHD drugs are listed on Schedule II- “high potential for abuse”-of the Controlled Substances Act. This includes the recognition that this neurodivergent condition can present differently in girls and women.īut I’ve been thinking about how another issue may be contributing: The Drug Enforcement Administration’s role in setting production quotas for scheduled substances. Diagnostic criteria have evolved, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For example, a JAMA Pediatrics report found that the prevalence of ADHD diagnoses among children and adolescents was about 6 percent in 1997-1998, but just over 10 percent in 2015-2016. Since the pandemic began, more people are also being diagnosed with ADHD, although that’s not a new trend. S everal factors apply: Manufacturing delays have risen during the pandemic due to international supply chain issues, and, as a result, so have medication shortages. While some pharmacies were already experiencing shortages by August 2022, the Food and Drug Administration officially announced a shortage in October. With the shortages, like many others, I’m forced to ration my medication and take what feels like an unpaid part-time job to find my prescription. The first day I took the stimulant was the first day after my TBI that I didn’t have a headache-turns out the amount of effort I had to put into focusing triggered headaches. After being randomly punched in the head a few years ago by a stranger, I developed debilitating headaches and struggled to focus. I’m one of those people who take methylphenidate to help manage a TBI. These drugs are also prescribed to help manage conditions like narcolepsy, traumatic brain injuries, and long Covid. Those difficulties stem from a shortage that started with the stimulant Adderall and its generics, then trickled to methylphenidate and lisdexamfetamine, also known as Ritalin and Vyvanse. Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.įor nearly a year, many people with ADHD and ADD in the United States have struggled to get the medication they’ve been prescribed to manage their condition.
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