Spanberger pushing DEA, FDA to come up with plan to address Adderall shortage

More than 80 percent of the 41 million people on Adderall, according to a recent survey, are having trouble getting the medication used to treat ADHD, the shortage being the result of manufacturing issues at Teva Pharmaceuticals, the nation’s primary producer of the prescription drug.

This is going on as demand for Adderall has increased more than 16 percent since 2020, as more Americans have started paying more attention to their mental and behavioral health in the pandemic era.

Virginia Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger is among those pushing the DEA and FDA to come up with some sort of organized response to the burgeoning crisis.

In a letter to DEA Administrator Anne Milgram and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, Spanberger urged the two leaders to coordinate their agencies’ efforts to institute a comprehensive federal response to ensure access to Adderall for all Americans who depend on it.

Spanberger also requested information as to how the agencies intend to work both independently and jointly to alleviate the shortage.

“The ongoing shortage has made it incredibly difficult for ADHD patients to manage their daily lives, and I encourage your agencies to collaborate and do everything possible to alleviate this shortage as quickly as possible,” Spanberger wrote in the letter. “Shortages of essential drugs, especially ones that have been on the market for years, have been a persistent problem in our healthcare system for years. Drug shortages pose significant challenges to the public health because they delay care for patients, frustrate providers who must prescribe alternatives that may be less effective or pose additional risks to the patients, and expose consumers to price gouging by unscrupulous manufacturers.

“Patients who rely on Adderall to function daily deserve a comprehensive federal response to ensure access to their medications. Given the complicated regulatory framework around controlled substances and the incentives in the drug industry, addressing the shortage of Adderall will require coordination between FDA, DEA, and industry,” Spanberger wrote.