BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The drug Adderall, used to treat attention disorders, is getting harder to find in the capital area. In Baton Rouge, some people have 100 people in front of them to fill a prescription.
“It’s tough to get the medication from the manufacturer at this point,” said Dr. Eric Peters, owner of Lagniappe Pharmacy.
Dr. Eric Peters at Lagniappe Pharmacy has been dealing with the shortage for a month. Peters says he’s seen a 50 percent influx of patients from chain pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens calling for a refill.
“The problem is we can only order so much. So, we can’t take pretty much all the new patients because we can only order so much because of our limits,” he said.
Director of Pharmacies Services, Dr. Raneesha Ford at Baton Rouge General explains the reason behind the national shortage.
“There was a fire in one of the plants so that caused the ability to manufacture to decease,” said Ford.
Dr. Ford also blames labor shortages and an increase in diagnoses of ADHD in the past few years for the drug shortage. The CDC estimates from 2016 to 2019, about 10% of children in the U.S. are diagnosed with ADHD.
“We’re seeing the diagnosis that would have been normal over the past two years, but now we’re seeing it all at once because as a community, we have not been going to the doctor as we did in recent years priors to covid 19,” said Ford.
So what to do if you can’t get a refill? Experts say to reach out to different pharmacies now and avoid buying online.
“There is a quote on quote black market for medication, so it’s just the same as buying it off the streets you don’t know truly what you’re getting,” said Ford.
According to the FDA drug shortage data, the Adderall shortage is resolved, but, now manufacturers and pharmacies are working to complete back orders.
“It will get better over time, it’s just a matter of time,” said Peters.
