‘It’s very hard’: Patients, pharmacies cope with Adderall shortage

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - There’s another supply chain issue affecting people all over the country, with drastic impacts on health.

The FDA declared an Adderall shortage, but many pharmacies say the shortage started back in October.

Adderall is used to treat conditions like attention deficit disorder or ADD.

We talked to a pharmacy manager at AU Health and a local mother about the effect on local patients.

“With it being a controlled substance, you can’t just walk into any mom-and-pop pharmacy or into any mom-and-pop store and say, ‘Hey, I need Adderall, I need a stimulant.’ You have to go to the physician. You have to go to your prescriber,” said Manager for Community Pharmacy, Augusta University Medical Center Rashad Darby.

But the prescribers are telling Monique Braswell...

“They’re saying they’re expecting to get it. We haven’t gotten it in. We haven’t gotten it in. We haven’t gotten it in. We haven’t gotten it in. That’s all they can tell us,” she said.

Darby says it could be months, and that’s too long for her daughter.

“It’s hard, it’s very, very hard, having children who have to have medication to manage their day, and then not have it is very hard,” said Braswell.

“You’re sitting here right now. You’re beginning to hear the effects of her not having her Adderall. Because that’s her. We’re in her bedroom. You hear it?”

Her daughter could be heard jumping from upstairs. She has a son who also takes add medication their prescriptions can’t mix.

“A lot of the medications are based on weight, on different symptoms. So what may work for person A may not work for person B. The dose may be too high, the dose may be too low. There are a lot of dangers with regard to taking other people’s medications, which is something that we do not advocate or recommend at all, especially in this circumstance where people can’t find it,” said Darby.

Braswell says advocating at schools and pharmacies has helped them get the help her family needs.

“It’s up to you to go back to your doctor and say, ‘hey, we can’t get this. So I need you to give me this, you know, or do this.’ If you ain’t an advocate, then your child misses out,” she said.

Darby says as a reminder, do not go out and take another person’s Adderall or another person’s medication. He says not to go online to find medication on your own. Talk to your doctor.

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