“It’s affecting every pharmacy in the country,” said Todd DeGroff, owner and pharmacist at Beacon Prescriptions in New Britain.
Every pharmacy, doctor and patient has been navigating a nationwide shortage of Adderall.
“Within the Hartford area, I have patients that come from Manchester or patients that come from Bristol, patients from Enfield, and they’ve all experienced it throughout the state,” said Dr. John Nazarian, medical director at Community Mental Health Affiliates.
The FDA listed the drug as “currently in shortage” back on Oct. 12. Nazarian said from what he’s seen, the situation has gotten worse.
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“Even last week, three of my patients called, unable to obtain their Adderall, and some hadn’t been able to obtain it for at least a month,” Nazarian said.
DeGroff mentioned manufacturing shortages as a cause, especially given the increased use coming out of the pandemic. On the FDA website, both “demand increase” and “shortage of active ingredient” are listed as reasons for the shortage.
Dr. Javeed Sukhera, chief of psychiatry at Hartford Hospital at the Institute of Living, said a spike in usage outside of what’s being prescribed is one example of how supply chain issues can be disrupted.
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“There’s a lot of over-utilization of stimulants that’s non-prescribed, that’s not recommended, but what that drives is an increase in demand that isn’t always aligned with the supply,” Sukhera said.
Reason aside, thousands are feeling the impact.
“Work with the doctor that you have, work with the prescriber, explore alternatives, explore combinations if needed, but really I would say anybody who might be struggling, reach out and work with their health professional on developing a plan to get them through,” Sukhera said.
