CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Millions of people have been diagnosed with ADHD. According to Harvard, those without access to medication have trouble managing their lives.
The Food and Drug Administration announced the shortage of Adderall and other ADHD medications last October. Dr. Anne-Marie Jones, an Assistant Clinical Professor at UNC, says it’s because of internet prescriptions of Adderall.
“It kind of caused a cascading effect where we had a severe shortage of the medication. And due to that, people then switched to other formulae, formulations, or other drugs completely and now we have a shortage of those as a result of switching off Adderall,” Jones says.
For some the medication is not a necessity, but for Lily Hawkins, who was diagnosed in the third grade, she says she can’t function without it.
“When I’m on my medication, I can do tasks, and I can be like, hey, I want to complete this step, and then I will do it. When I’m not medicated, I want to do tasks, I want to get stuff done, but I don’t,” Hawkins says.
While Hawkins is not on Adderall and her medication has not been affected by the shortage, she says that getting her medication can still be difficult.
“They’ve shortened the period I can order in in advance. So, there’s lots of days that I go, like, the overlap doesn’t work. Or I forget to call them at the exact date. Because I don’t realize that my medication is about to run out until it’s run out. Because that’s how my brain works,” Hawkins says.
The FDA is monitoring the shortage and working with manufacturers to resolve the problem.