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The FDA has officially declared a shortage of Adderall

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Re: The FDA has officially declared a shortage of Adderall

#2
There was a shortage about a decade ago, right? I remember because my partner had ADHD and had trouble getting adderall. I remember it was definitely a rough time, even after getting it back. Getting re-acclimated was not easy - the break definitely made the unpleasant parts of being on adderall 7 days a week apparent.

They've long since stopped taking medication - but that was after we both decided the software industry is, for lack of a better word, stupid and de-prioritized it generally. We still make good money off it, but we do a worse job and have more free time for what matters in life. Thank goodness for remote work :)

Re: The FDA has officially declared a shortage of Adderall

#3
It’s affecting me pretty bad.

There are a few root causes: telemedicine rapidly increasing prescriptions, the mentioned Teva production issues. But one of the main problems is that the DEA tries to project the amount of adderall that’s allowed to be made/imported per year, which makes it so companies can’t quickly scale up production or hold inventories to smooth over supply issues.

IMO, the DEA should not have any input whatsoever in how much of a medicine can be produced or imported per year. Why should people who need medicine suffer just in case someone else might abuse it?

It’s hard enough as it is to manage these prescriptions because of them being controlled substances. Now it’s 10x harder because I have to play middle man between pharmacy and physician (if they only have 15mg XR in stock I can’t just get that filled to replace my 15mg IR without resending a prescription - by the time my physician sends something over they might be out of stock of that dose already) and pound pavement to find pharmacies with stock at all. Plus you have to deal with all the pharmacy staff that’s pissed at all the other people in the same boat calling in to try to get their prescriptions filled, on top of the regular baseline judgment against people with controlled substance prescriptions

Re: The FDA has officially declared a shortage of Adderall

#4

It’s affecting me pretty bad. There are a few root causes: telemedicine rapidly increasing prescriptions, the mentioned Teva production issues. But one of the main problems is that the DEA tries to project the amount of adderall that’s allowed to be made/imported per year, which makes it so companies can’t quickly scale up production or hold inventories to smooth over supply issues. IMO, the DEA should not have any i…

> Why should people who need medicine suffer just in case someone else might abuse it?

This, in direct literal terms, was the argument made in favor of OxyContin.

Re: The FDA has officially declared a shortage of Adderall

#5
post #4

It’s affecting me pretty bad. There are a few root causes: telemedicine rapidly increasing prescriptions, the mentioned Teva production issues. But one of the main problems is that the DEA tries to project the amount of adderall that’s allowed to be made/imported per year, which makes it so companies can’t quickly scale up production or hold inventories to smooth over supply issues. IMO, the DEA should not have any i…

> Why should people who need medicine suffer just in case someone else might abuse it? This, in direct literal terms, was the argument made in favor of OxyContin.

The DEA could still go after pill mills or over-prescribers without supply limits. The main thing supply limits do is just make it inconvenient for everybody prescribed a particular medication to get it filled.

Re: The FDA has officially declared a shortage of Adderall

#7
post #4

It’s affecting me pretty bad. There are a few root causes: telemedicine rapidly increasing prescriptions, the mentioned Teva production issues. But one of the main problems is that the DEA tries to project the amount of adderall that’s allowed to be made/imported per year, which makes it so companies can’t quickly scale up production or hold inventories to smooth over supply issues. IMO, the DEA should not have any i…

> Why should people who need medicine suffer just in case someone else might abuse it? This, in direct literal terms, was the argument made in favor of OxyContin.

No, the argument for OxyContin was two-fold and targeted at doctors:

1. “Pain is the fifth vital sign.” You are a Bad Doctor if you do not consider pain.

2. OxyContin is not habit-forming.

Re: The FDA has officially declared a shortage of Adderall

#8
post #7
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Why should people who need medicine suffer just in case someone else might abuse it? This, in direct literal terms, was the argument made in favor of OxyContin.

No, the argument for OxyContin was two-fold and targeted at doctors: 1. “Pain is the fifth vital sign.” You are a Bad Doctor if you do not consider pain. 2. OxyContin is not habit-forming.

1 is a little more complicated. I believe as part of the ACA hospitals were actually evaluated on subjective pain management as reported by patients with financial implications if it seemed pain was not being managed.

Also, a lot of people got started on Oxy after a surgery in which they were given it on their way out. They either started taking it and liked it, or didn’t take it and possibly had it diverted to acquaintances/family. With adderall you have to get it prescribed for ADHD or (more rarely) narcolepsy - of course it could still get diverted, but it’s not something that’s being routinely given to the general population like painkillers.

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