A nationwide shortage of medications to treat ADHD affects patients, doctors and pharmacists in metro Atlanta.

“It’s just making life a lot harder for many people,” child psychiatrist Dr. Eva Nemeth said the shortage has been worsening since the fall. “I bet our call volume has jumped up by at least a third, every day getting phone calls, ‘so and so can’t find Adderall they’ve been to 30 pharmacies.’”

In October 2022, the Food and Drug Administration announced they were monitoring the shortage. “Patients should work with their health care professionals to determine their best treatment option,” the agency stated.

That treatment option often means switching to another available medicine.

“They’re similar, but they’re different enough that one person might have more side effects on one of them than do on the other, and now they’re having to settle for anything they can get,” Nemeth told WSB’s Jonathan O’Brien.

Pharmacist Caye Renegar said the issues mainly impact generic medications like Adderall, Ritalin or Focalin. “It’s not all the strengths that are out, but it’s a majority of them, and it’s sporadic; sometimes I’ll get shipments, sometimes I won’t,” Regenar said.

She is now maintaining a patient waiting list for folks needing the medications. “It’s first come, first serve, so then I’ll call them and say, ‘hey, do you still need this?’”

For patients, switching from the generic to the name brand can be an expensive headache running to hundreds of dollars. Dr. Nemeth doesn’t know when the shortage will ease, but she hopes it’s soon.

“It’s terrible for the patients who have ADHD because it would be like saying there’s a shortage of glasses, and everybody had to run around half-blind, running into each other,” Nemeth said.

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