Adderall Shortage

[mlmpetert]

Shits getting real. Apparently the main ingredient isnt being produced, but no one really knows why. Ive heard that the FDA can only produce so much of it each year but ive also heard narrowing profit margins have disincentivized manufactures. I wonder why profit margins for cheap drugs are falling?

Although many of you may laugh that people like me may not be able to get our ADD meds, I can assure you America’s production will decrease and college kid’s grades will suffer without Adderall keeping us focused! But the problem is actually much more severe as there has been a dramatic increase in drug shortages. Currently there are some 200 drugs in shortage compared with 56 in 2006. The one thing I cant figure out is why this is happening now, and no articles seem to give real answers. The common theme ive read for almost all of these drugs is that profit margins are very small and nearly all have generic equivalents. But no one talks about why profit margins are less now than they were in years past…. What the hell is going on?

Obama signed an Executive Order a few weeks ago to address the shortages, which heavily affect life saving cancer drugs. The problem is that it sounds like the EO doesn’t do anything but double the FDA’s drug shortage staff from 5 to 11 and encourage drug manufactures to notify the FDA when there are shortages coming. Apparently the manufactures don’t have to disclose reasons why they reduce the amount of a drug they make or stop producing it all together. Some are calling on the Federal government to fine manufactures, but many are worried that if that happens many manufactures will just stop making the drugs altogether, the thought being you cant be fined for something you don’t operate in.

I don’t want to just start blaming ObamaCare, but that seems like the only change from prior years. Apparently one of the changes in the 2011 was:

10. Pharmaceutical manufacturers will see the first major industry tax: a $ 2.5 billion tax based on sales. Drug companies agreed to this when the health reform bill was being formulated thinking that they would end up with millions more customers. But in the meantime, the tax may well lead to higher drug prices and shrinking budgets for finding new drugs.

What To Expect From ObamaCare In 2011 Page 2 of 2 - Forbes.com

This sounds like a value added tax to me and although most analyst thought that drug companies were going to just pass the tax on to consumers, like they do with all other taxes, perhaps pharmaceuticals are doing something far worse…. Just not producing the drugs that have low margins? I don’t know what to think, maybe this is even a pharmaceutical protest of sorts; take peoples drugs away and they’ll get pissed and blame Obama. Maybe there have been other changes not related to ObamaCare that are driving the costs down. Maybe drug companies don’t want to produce something if they think there is a better, albeit more profitable, alternative.

Either way when I first starting asking people and searching on the internet what’s going on back in March no one really seemed to know. There is a lot of info out there now, although still no good answers. I wouldn’t be surprised to see this become a major story in the next few months.

Some recent news, although all lacking good explainations as to why there is a shortage:

President's Executive Order on Drug Shortage Draws Mixed Reactions - ABC News

Economics Behind Cancer Drug Shortages | Care2 Causes

Doctors Group Supports Fight On Drug Shortages | Fox News

[mlmpetert]

Wow, the 2.5 billion tax on pharmaceuticals is a excise tax, so you can put cancer medication, adderall, and all other drugs in the same ranks as beer, cigarettes and gas. And apparently its susposed to increase.... i guess even less drugs?

This Is A Stick Up! How Obamacare Raids Your Wallet. | American Exceptionalism

[Gary84Clark]

It should be banned period. It's a very very bad drug.

[DynamiteRave]

I think Adderall has its benefits if used correctly.

That being said, most of the people I know that use it completely abuse it. In fact someone I was very close to exaggerated her ADHD symptoms and downplayed her alcohol dependency (she's a bit of a functional alcoholic) just to get the drug to SELL for extra cash. High school and college kids love the stuff around exam time.

[clarkg4867]

As an Adderall patient since I was in middle school, I can say that this drug has wonderful effects in its increase of thought production and focus. However, as I have now become close to graduating with my Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, I can tell you that it is one of the most utilized medications by Psychiatrists when behavioral modification techniques could work just as well. My wife was told that the company that makes Adderall has met its quota for the year when she went to try and have her prescription filled.


This is the FDAs way of controlling the amount of the drug given to the population; otherwise there are no restrictions on how many people the professionals prescribe the drug to. There are no definitive tests, such as blood tests, that professionals can use to be certain a patient has ADD or ADHD; it relies completely on the behaviors explained by the patient and then the doctor makes a judgment as to whether he or she needs the medication. If a person is serious enough about getting the medicine, all he or she needs to do is conduct a Google search on the symptoms of ADD or ADHD to tell the doctor. I know many people that have done this and succeeded in getting the medication for their self or their children to sell for profit. There are many more choices for ADD and ADHD medications than there once was and most of them are now stimulant free because of the long-term damage that stimulants cause to the temporal lobes of the brain and nervous system.

In fact, if you can get a hold of a documentary called Generation Rx, I advise you to watch it, even if you aren’t the type to find documentaries interesting (I know you can find it on Netflix). It was once I watched this that I realized that I was a victim in an epidemic where the pharmaceutical industry pushed drugs on society, albeit legally but no less harmful. Anyways, in the documentary there is a video of a conference to validate Adderall’s use for the public and what you see will outright amaze you that the drug even made it into public use. The spokesman turns to one of the psychiatrists and states, “Doctor, you have had thousands of cases of prescribing Adderall to treat ADD and ADHD, would you please tell everyone here the symptoms that validate the use of this drug for treatment.” This is not word for word how it was actually said but I promise my wording does not distort the actual message in any way.


Every time the doctor would begin explaining a symptom requiring the drug he would begin stuttering and back up to try and explain another symptom only to stutter again. This continued the whole time because he knew that every symptom he was going to explain as a symptom in need of the drug could be caused by a multitude of other things which may get pointed out and there was no way for him to validate its use for a disorder that the pharmaceutical company collaborated on to make money. They even pushed it into the schools; it was recommended by my school nurse in 7th grade when I was 13 that I may have ADD and that I should see a doctor; I’m 29 now and even though I had been on Adderall for 16 years, when I saw this I realized that I was a victim of this epidemic to make up the disorders of ADD and ADHD to push drugs that would make students manageable in the classroom. Not to mention, make a butt load of money off of this in the process.


It is amazing that it is assumed that our kids will not be able to focus without drugs and with how widespread this epidemic has become it may in fact happen; the human brain, nervous system, and sensory perception systems in the body are designed to be able to focus on what it wants (this is key here). Parents will just have to become a little more involved in controlling their children’s habitual behavioral patterns to remedy the focus problem, such as making them sit down and eat without getting up or watching T.V.; when watching a movie or engaged in conversation with another, put the cell phone on silent and ignore it because the interruption of constant text messaging is just rude; children just need to be taught which things to ignore when engaged in an activity which is difficult now more than ever with the widespread use of cell phones and other technologies.


Trust me, watch the documentary because it will change your perspective on how you think you “need” medicine for a “disorder” that is nothing more than a fabrication to manage the public and make money off of us! It’s truly saddening that pharmaceutical companies have created more addictions in the public and have people believing it is okay because doctors say it is!


If anything, Obama is trying to rid our population of the injustice that has been cast upon us by an uncaring industry trying to make money! If anyone wants to get mad at someone, get mad at those who have fed us these lies without any concern for our health. Ever wonder why medicines are advertised on television? No patient should have options to choose which medications they want; it should only be up to the doctor who knows the science behind the patient’s medical history to judge which medication should be used. It’s all about the money, not the well-being and curing of the public! Do not be fooled into believing that every disorder is real because doctors say it is and can be fixed with a pill which they also say!!

[mredskins]

^ Probably one of the best SPAMS ever on here.

[That Guy]

amazing first post, welcome .

[MTK]

some weird bumps in here lately

[mredskins]

this web site is like a old small town bar as soon as the door opens to the bar everyone turns around and are like who is the new guy...

[Hog1]

Well, when my son was a wee tot, he was a....little on the focused challenged side. Not debilitating.....but could be a pain in the ass. AND when he started school, that was a new challenge as well as the focus probs became more serious. We did the usual things as parents are want to do. The Doc wanted to put him on whatever the latest and greatest ADHD cure all was at the time. The school was pressuring us as well. Against my better judgement, we tried it. What the Hell did we know....
It changed him.....altered his personality....doped him up a bit.
As I commenced to study on the issue a bit more, I made my mind up that NO KID needs to be on this shit UNLESS NO other alternative exists.
We met with vitamin people....nutrition people...and others. We tried many things but with no real progress. I just could not see chaining him to a Long Term drug as strong as that...just cannot be good.
To make a long story a little shorter.....we found with exercize and diet changes, he was......normal. Specifically, no refined sugar and no soft drinks.
It was an uphill battle at first as Everyone seemed to want him on meds. The school didn't give a shit about him. They just wanted a "no trouble" child...sad.
He's in his second year of college. Plays Varsity sports, etc.
Moral..don't hesitate to tell school admin and Docs to go F... themselves...

[MTK]

Originally Posted by mredskins

this web site is like a old small town bar as soon as the door opens to the bar everyone turns around and are like who is the new guy...

Especially when the new guy comes in dressed like a clown, orders a glass of milk, and starts telling fart jokes.

[Alvin Walton]

In my expert medical opinion this thread is...ohhh what...ooo look, something shiny.

[mooby]

Originally Posted by mredskins

this web site is like a old small town bar as soon as the door opens to the bar everyone turns around and are like who is the new guy...