FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Before the beginning of the school year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a shortage in Adderall creating concerns for parents.
It's been nearly a year since the FDA initially announced a shortage of ADHD medication. The shortage has parents worried about helping their students focus in school.
On August 1, the FDA announced the shortage of Adderall which Dr. Randy Staley of NWA Psychiatry says they've been seeing the impact for nearly a year.
"It started off as a difficulty with a particular manufacturer, not able to get the basic materials that they needed, that then kind of compounded into other medicines," Dr. Staley said. "Doctors like myself would change patients from the medicines that are no longer available to new medications, which then put pressure on [the alternative medications]. And they were unable to keep up with the demand at that point in time."
The FDA explained that the supply in the market just can't keep up with the demand. With the new school year starting, Dr. Staley said that the problem just continues to grow.
"You have a lot of kids that we thought they were doing well over the course of the summer because the demands on them were much lower," Dr. Staley said. "Now that they're back at school, the demands are much higher, and they're realizing, 'oh, goodness, what worked last year isn't working as well this year.'"
Medicine is becoming a part of parents' back-to-school list because the alternative could lead to a hard year. Dr. Staley explained that students can struggle in their studies without the help of medication.
"It makes it more difficult for them to be able to bring in and retain information, they find that they get distracted, they forget to do things—forget to turn in their homework. So their grades get lower, which then can actually lead to an increase in depression and anxiety, as well," Dr. Staley explained.
Dr. Staley confirmed that people have been traveling 2 to 3 hours to find their specific medications. He explains that it's to make sure they receive the same result because not all medications are equal.
"Patients may have an over medication or an under medication for a period of time before you're able to get the right dosage figured out, you increased their risk of side effects because they were stable on something before now you're introducing a new chemical into their, into their system. And so they may have different side effects than they had before. And all of that can impact their schooling, it can impact their employment things along those lines."
The FDA says they're continuing to monitor supply levels as manufacturers estimate a resupply over the next few months. Yet, the issue could continue to grow even among adults.
"To be real honest, I mean, I would tell you that for every child adolescent that I'm diagnosing, I'm probably diagnosing an adult at the same time for ADHD," Dr. Staley said. "It's not just that inattention. Sometimes ADHD can even be that over-focus that hyper-focus on certain things that people really enjoy. And so people I'll say, Well, my kid can focus on Legos for hours. So he can't have ADHD. Well, that actually can be a sign of ADHD."
Dr. Staley said parents can continue to look for alternatives for the drug. He also suggests families be in contact with their schools to accommodate their students' learning.
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