Authorities caution that the surge in Adderall prescriptions may foreshadow a potential epidemic akin to opioids in the future, as reported by the Daily Mail.
The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration expressed concerns that the substantial increase in new prescriptions may lead to a heightened risk of abuse, mirroring the challenges seen in the opioid crisis.
Additionally, these medications come with a myriad of severe side effects such as anxiety, seizures, insomnia, hallucinations, and psychosis.
Reports have also suggested a possible link between these drugs and an elevated risk of heart disease.
“I’m not trying to be a doomsday here… It makes me feel like we’re at the precipice of our next drug crisis in the United States,” Matthew Strait said, who is the deputy assistant administrator in the diversion control division at the DEA.
According to The Daily Mail, Adderall prescriptions surged during the pandemic possibly due to telehealth companies. The number of prescriptions for Adderall rose from 35.5 million in 2019 to 45 million in 2024.
Efforts by the DEA are underway to regulate the drug’s production and access, but there remains an issue for individuals with valid prescriptions who are unable to obtain their medication.
“DEA determined that the proposed APQs for amphetamine, lisdexamfetamine and methylphenidate are sufficient to supply legitimate medical needs, reserve stocks, and export requirements for 2024,” the agency wrote in a March filing.
Nonetheless, CBS News stated that drug manufacturers have attributed their limited ability to produce drugs to meet demand to the DEA’s quotas.
“The production limit on the drug’s active ingredient is one of the main drivers for our inability to fully supply the market,” a spokesperson for Apotex said, a drugmaker for a Vyvanse generic.
The report mentioned that while generic versions of Vyvanse received FDA approval for the first time year, almost all of the recently approved manufacturers said they are now facing shortages of lisdexamfetamine as they have tried to increase production.
“We have not been able to obtain enough raw material to commercialize the product at full commercial scale, and we have used our full quota for calendar year 2023,” the Apotex spokesperson said.
