America’s Adderall shortage deepens: SEVENTH company warns it’s running out of ADHD drug

Pharmaceutical giant Novartis reports shortages of the ADHD drug Adderall, as a nationwide shortage of the drug continues to worsen.

Supply problems have been brewing since the summer, when patients started having trouble getting their prescriptions from their local pharmacies.

Seven pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis Sandoz, have reported deficiencies in both immediate-release and extended-release generic Adderall

The drug is an amphetamine used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Teva Pharmaceuticals, America’s largest producer of both brand-name and generic versions of the drug, reported shortages of all doses of the generic drugs.

This has serious implications for the roughly 2.5 million Americans who rely on drugs like Adderall to manage their ADHD. An estimated 8.4 percent of children and 2.5 percent of adults have ADHD, according to to the American Psychiatric Association.

Devastation in the supply chain during the Covid pandemic, which caused shortages of many essential supplies ranging from toilet paper to baby food, also impacted pharmacists’ ability to fill prescriptions.

Seven pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis and Teva, have reported shortages of extended-release and immediate-release Adderall and its generics.

ADHD diagnoses are most common in school-age children who seem to have trouble paying attention, controlling impulsive behavior, or being overly active.

Matt Blanchette, senior manager of retail communications at CVS Health, told DailyMail.com: “We are aware of periodic shortages of generic amphetamine medications in the supply chain and our pharmacists will work with patients prescribed this drug as necessary.”

Meanwhile, Fraser Engerman, Walgreens senior director of external relations, said, “Our teams continue to work with our suppliers and distribution partners in an effort to meet patient demand.”

He added, “We’ve seen some intermittent delivery issues with the generic form of this drug and additional questions about availability should be directed to the drug’s manufacturers.”

Small pharmacies are also struggling to keep up with demand.

in a national questionnaire by the National Community Pharmacists Association of about 360 independent pharmacies, 64 percent reported drug shortages in July and August.

ADHD is most commonly diagnosed in children and is characterized by impulsivity, inattention, and/or hyperactivity so severe it affects work and school.

Many of the millions of Americans who depend on a daily dose of Adderall or its generic panicked when they tried to fill their prescriptions.

For example, a 37-year-old New Jersey patient who has been on medication for 12 years called 16 pharmacies for two days before learning it would be on backorder for two to three months, Vice reported.

The drug is intended as a daily medicine. Without it, people with ADHD have trouble completing daily tasks and completing projects.

Prescriptions for the medication, which has an extremely high addiction potential and is often taken as a party drug, has skyrocketed in recent years.

Symphony Health Reported Prescriptions jumped from 15.5 million in 2009 to 41 million in 2021.

The explosion of regulations has coincided with the rise of telehealth companies such as Cerebral and Done Health, which gained a foothold in healthcare during the pandemic.

The companies have recently come under fire for over-prescribing practices after former employees reported feeling pressure from higher up to dispense the medication without enough time to diagnose.

Despite criticism from the public and the Drug Enforcement Administration, Cerebral has stopped teleprescribing many controlled substances, including for ADHD, but Done Health continues to do so.