Fayetteville feels the effects of national Adderall, other ADHD medication shortages

Morgan Kobold said she manages her ADHD — attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with a twice-daily dose of Adderall. Without it, she said, she’s easily side tracked and irritable.

In December, the 27-year-old Fort Bragg wife and mother of two went to a Spring Lake Walgreens to refill her prescription, but the pharmacy did not have it in stock and staff did not know when they would get another shipment, she said. It was the first day of her kids’ holiday break.

“Trying to parent my kids without medication was very difficult,” Kobold said. The medication improves focus and reduces impulsivity.

She made calls to half a dozen other pharmacies, but as was the case across the country, none had it in stock, she said. It would be two weeks before her prescription was filled.

In the last few months, that scenario has played out time and again for Kobold and thousands of others, because of a national shortage.

National shortages continue for months

A nationwide shortage of the most commonly prescribed medication for ADHD, commonly referred to by the brand name, Adderall, is in its sixth month.

In October, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced delays at major Adderall manufacturer Teva, and other producers weren’t able to keep up with demand.

While brand-name Adderall is no longer in shortage, according to the FDA, its generics, which most people take, are still in short supply. On Tuesday, the FDA shortage tracker showed six out of nine manufacturers had supply constraints due to increased demand or shortages of the active ingredient.

Fayetteville in short supply

Derek Boateng, pharmacist and owner at Health Matters pharmacy in Fayetteville, said he, too, started to see issues with Adderall and generics supply around Christmas and it’s gotten worse since then. Early this year, he could get a bottle or two, he said, but now, he can’t get any.

Still, patients call every day to ask whether the pharmacy has it in stock.

“Our phone doesn’t stop ringing,” Boateng said. “Almost every other call I get is for Adderall.”

Because the active ingredient is an amphetamine — classified as a controlled substance by the Drug Enforcement Administration — prescriptions cannot be transferred to another pharmacy, Boateng said. If the prescribed pharmacy is out of stock, the patient has to call other pharmacies to find it and notify the prescriber, who must cancel the original prescription and send one to the new pharmacy, he said.

Kobold, who has experienced this firsthand, said the manual process takes time, making it possible that once the new prescription is sent to the new pharmacy, supply has run out, she said.

“It’s like a cat and mouse game,” Kobold said. “For people who have ADHD, medication refill days are like the most stressful days of our lives.”

Kobold said switching from Adderall to a different medication like Vyvanse, Ritalin or Focalin isn't an option for her because alternatives don't control her symptoms. Even if they did, other ADHD drugs are facing shortages, too. Boateng said he’s had trouble keeping any kind of ADHD medication in stock recently.

Fort Bragg shields patients from shortages

Womack Army Medical Center pharmacy chief Lt. Col. Victoria O’Shea said she and her staff have had some success in meeting patient needs for Adderall on post.

One reason that Womack has fared better than retail pharmacies, which often dispense generics to keep patient costs low, is that the Army health system can stock brand-name drugs because prescriptions are free for military beneficiaries.

“We are lucky to have that flexibility,” O’Shea said.

Still, Womack has felt the pinch. The outpatient pharmacy may dispense as many as 20 Adderall prescriptions daily, O’Shea said, mostly to pediatric patients. There have been instances where patients have waited up to three days to receive Adderall prescriptions, she said.

Deanna Garner, who is in charge of the medication supply at Womack, said she works closely with two wholesalers to keep the pharmacy’s Adderall supply as stocked as possible. Suppliers limit how much Adderall she can order each day.

“It’s very, very, slim pickings out there," Garner said.

Dr. Hannah Park, a pharmacist who supervises the main outpatient pharmacy at Womack, is on the front lines of handling prescriber and patient frustrations as shortages continue. She said that counseling patients who may have to switch to a different dose or a different medication altogether add to the staff’s workload.

“All of that takes extra time and care,” she said.

When will the shortages end?

Boateng said he isn’t hopeful that the shortages will let up anytime soon.

"The whole situation is likely to take a few more months before it’s resolved totally,” he said.

Some producers have reported to the FDA that they expect normal availability to resume in May or June.

Kobold said she’s hopeful that the shortages will ease up in the summer, when kids and college students sometimes stop taking ADHD medications because focus isn't as necessary. At least, she said, she hopes she can get her next 30-day supply.

"I try not to think about it that far ahead," Kobold said. "It's just bad for my anxiety."

Reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville feels the effects of Adderall shortages