Just as students are returning to classrooms, the ongoing shortage of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs shows no signs of letting up. Many pharmacies have been out of stock, and manufacturers are not entirely caught up, according to Axios. In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also issued an advisory to warn patients about potential access issues after the arrest and fraud indictment of 2 executives from a digital health company that had been prescribing ADHD medication to as many as 50,000 patients.
At the ground level: Clinicians and the public can search the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ drug shortage list to see the status of a particular drug by entering its generic name. For example, the site as of last week showed an active shortage of extended-release oral methylphenidate dating back to December 2022. In terms of sourcing medications, patients and their families would likely need to call individual pharmacies to find out what’s in stock, potentially necessitating an appointment or a phone call to a clinician to make a drug switch if needed.