Why Does the Shortage of ADHD Medication Matter?

The shortage of drugs for ADHD (like Adderall, Ritalin, and other amphetamine stimulants) has been going on for over a year now. In some areas, people are unable to get their prescriptions filled.  Parents are calling pharmacies checking for availability. Some are going to other states to get the medication if there is no availability in their area.

You can read more about the shortage here.

You may be thinking that shortages of cancer drugs are more serious. That may be so, but don't make the mistake of assuming that ADHD drugs don't save lives, because they do. Teens with untreated ADHD are in four times as many car accidents as teens with treated ADHD and teens without ADHD. Children with untreated ADHD have more injuries and more trips to the emergency room.

While I don't have any stats on it, I would also bet that rate of child abuse is higher in families with a child with untreated ADHD. I can certainly attest to the fact that a child with properly treated ADHD has a saner mom than one who hasn't taken his meds. It was a completely unscientific study, but I think my entire family would swear to its accuracy.

Schools have begun noticing the effect of the shortage, too. They are seeing more classroom disruptions, more fights on the playground, and more impulsive behavior in general.

Adults with ADHD have more car accidents and lose their jobs at a higher rate when they can't take their medication.  The article I linked above includes the story of a college student whose GPA went from 3.2 to 1.9, largely due to his inability to focus without medication.

Not everyone who has ADHD controls it with medication. Some use a behavioral approach alone.  Sometimes it works.  Sometimes it doesn't (as you have probably gathered from previous posts you have read here). But those who need the medication because a behavioral approach alone simply doesn't work really need it to function effectively every day in the world. There are real consequences for them and those around them.

There is some disagreement about what the shortage is all about.  Some say that it is the result of more adults being diagnosed with ADHD and being treated with medication. Others say that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has tightened up its control of the active ingredients. The FDA controls them as a strategy to prevent abuse. Still others argue that the FDA is releasing enough, but with the increase in demand, the drug companies are using their portions to make more of the costlier name brands than the generics that most insurance companies will approve - indicating that there may not really be a shortage of the medication, just a shortage of the medication accessible to most people.

Whatever the cause, it's a serious issue that needs to be addressed and resolved.