JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – There’s a nationwide shortage of a drug prescribed to people with ADHD.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday announced a shortage of amphetamine mixed salts — commonly referred to by the brand name Adderall.
The FDA explained the United States is running short on the medication because certain manufacturers of the drug don’t have enough supply to meet the demand.
The administration advised patients to see their doctor if they have trouble getting the medication and discuss what — if any — alternative treatments are available for conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and narcolepsy.
David Burns, who lives and works in Jacksonville, has dealt with ADHD since childhood and has been prescribed Adderall for treatment.
“I was diagnosed in fifth grade, so I think that’d be when I was 11,” Burns said.
Burns, who’s now 26, said he’s still able to get his medication, although his pharmacy has been mixing and matching his dosage from different manufacturers.
News4JAX asked Burns what it’s like when he does not take the medication, and he recounted a recent time when he ran out.
“I 100% noticed a difference. I was not, you know, the same level of work efficacy that I usually have. You know, I was pretty spacey. I was just not focused or as interested in the work that I do, and I love what I do. It’s, you know, it’s my job,” Burns said.
It wasn’t life-threatening, Burns said, rather life-diminishing — something people with ADHD know all too well.
“Focusing, that’s the biggest problem. Let’s face it, people who don’t have that problem have no idea. But it’s just the same as people who don’t have anxiety issues. They don’t have any clue,” said Dr. Atul Shah, a psychiatrist with Pacifica Care.
Shah has been a psychiatrist in Jacksonville for more than 30 years and has prescribed Adderall to countless patients in that time.
“People can’t just simply be comforted by saying soothing words, they need the medication because that’s what controls that chain reaction,” Shah said. “I think it’s a terrible system, a systematic problem, and we need to come up with a solution because a lot of people who are dependent on this for their functioning, they’re not going to explain to their employer, ‘Hey, listen, I can’t have my Adderall, so what do I do?’”
Also, people are warned not to go through any illegitimate sources to get the supply, as street drugs often contain the dangerously addictive and extremely potent opioid fentanyl, which is responsible for more than 71,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. last year.