NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — There's a shortage of Adderall — the drug used to treat ADHD by helping people focus.
At Pruitt's Discount Pharmacy, Charles Sanderlin is not surprised there's an Adderall shortage because of recent supply chain woes.
"Because there’s a shortage throughout the whole country," Sanderlin said. "We had a pandemic."
Dr. Shawn Pruitt said they still have Adderall in stock at his independent pharmacies, but larger pharmacies have been hit hard.
"So, we’ve seen an increase in business from people looking for Adderall, but not able to find it at the regular pharmacies," Pruitt said.
His wholesaler is completely out of extended-release Adderall due to manufacturing-related issues.
"It could be a while, especially because you’re looking at people go to the extended-release, and now the extended-release are going to go to the short-acting, and it’s just going to soak up the market very quickly," Pruitt said.
A woman named Candice told NewsChannel5's Alexandra Koehn on the phone that she's rationing her Adderall. It helps her focus since she has ADHD.
"It kinda throws you for a loop because it’s like, 'Ooo no; I don’t know what this feeling is, and I don’t like it,'" Candice said.
Her pharmacy is out of her extended-release Adderall.
"This is peak American healthcare experience because apparently they’ve known about this for a while, and have known it was possibly coming, and did nothing to remedy the situation before it became dire," Candice said.
Pruitt said customers should check independent pharmacies and talk to their doctors about alternative options.
"And if they’re not able to replenish it, probably by Thanksgiving, this is going to be pretty bad," Pruitt said.
One of the manufacturers of Adderall called Teva noted they're seeing "above historical demand." They issued a statement:
“Teva has active supply of both branded Adderall and its generic version and continues to produce and refill the channel regularly at levels above historical demand. It is possible that some people may encounter a backorder (intermittently) based on timing and demand, but these are only temporary. We are actively shipping both branded and generic Adderall to customers, and we expect inventory recovery in the coming months.
This product is important to Teva because it is important to the patients who need it. We are fully committed to uninterrupted supply and continuing to manufacture and distribute as much product as possible each day. We are working closely with our manufacturing facility and the DEA to see what additional volume we may be able to support in the future.”
