- The government has issued a warning about a shortage in the supply of ADHD drugs.
- Charity boss Henry Shelford accuses NHS and DHSC of being unprepared
- Patient Jess Price, 26, called 43 pharmacies to get just part of her prescription.
A severe shortage of ADHD medication has led to warnings as patients are calling dozens of pharmacies to get the life-changing pills.
The head of an ADHD charity said: “Suddenly removing drugs is akin to removing wheelchairs from disabled people who need them.” He called on the government to resolve the issue.
The government said three drugs to treat neurodevelopmental disorders were affected by supply issues, and issued a safety warning that the drugs were “caused by a combination of manufacturing issues and increased global demand.”
Shortages of methylphenidate (also known as Concerta XL), lisdexamfetamine (Elvanse), and guanfacine (Intunib) expected to be resolved by December
The alert also said supply issues with atomoxetine, a fourth ADHD drug launched in July, should end this month, but some dose sizes still face supply issues.
The Department of Health and Social Care states that prescribers should not supply new patients until the shortage has been resolved, and that if medicines are not available, GPs should “contact the patient’s specialist team to advise on management options.” He said that people should ask for help.
Jess Price, 26, from central London, who takes the non-stimulant atomoxetine, called 43 pharmacies, all located less than an hour away, but none of them gave her a month’s worth of tablets. He said he was unable to supply it. “None of the pharmacies had my full prescription in stock,” they said.
ADHD UK CEO Henry Shelford said: “ADHD medicines are life-changing for many people with ADHD.” “ADHD is a disorder, and abruptly removing medication is the same as taking a wheelchair off a disabled person who needs a wheelchair.”
He blamed the NHS for not planning properly, saying: “People only find out when pharmacies are no longer able to supply medicines,” adding: “People are stuck with no support.” Stated.
“This is a dismal failure, but unfortunately this lack of care is to be expected in our stigmatized state,” he added.
“The Department of Health and Social Care’s plaster memo suggesting GPs ‘contact the patient’s specialist team’ is laughable. Patients often wait years to see their treatment team. NHS According to the most recent quarterly data, there are 202,304 people taking medication for ADHD.
“Drugs are carefully administered in doses and types that have been studied over several months. The idea that they can be chopped and changed is wrong. There is no guarantee that a team of experts has the capacity to review such a large number of medicines. The idea is wrong.
“This will be devastating for individuals across the country and life-changing for some. People with ADHD are being let down by the NHS. This is the latest situation.”
After ordering a prescription on online service Pharmacy2U on Tuesday, it became clear that ADHD sufferer Jess would have to try a different route, with her GP’s clinical pharmacist waiting two days before contacting as many chemists as possible. I told him to call me.
Jess even went so far as to call out on social media and ask families across the country if their local pharmacies had the drug in stock, forcing them to ration the drug.
“I didn’t know when I would get my prescription, so I didn’t take my medication on days when I didn’t have anything to be careful about because I was worried I’d run out when I needed it most.”
But Jess says it’s far from a perfect solution. “Not taking the medication significantly worsened my ADHD symptoms, which affected the things I needed to do on a daily basis, including poor sleep and executive function.”
“It affects my whole life. I was supposed to go to a show today, but I missed it because I suffer from insomnia and couldn’t sleep until at least 5:30 in the morning.
“It can take me three hours to fall asleep and it’s hard to wake up, but taking medication makes it much easier.This morning, my alarm went off, the radio went off, the solar alarm went off, and I fell asleep. Ta.”
Jess said that the last time there was a shortage, she was facing significant problems at work and in her personal life as her symptoms were untreated, making it difficult to manage her time and organize herself.
Additionally, patients with ADHD often have trouble planning and planning, so the fact that they require continued effort just to obtain effective medication is a paradoxical conundrum.
“It’s hard to access anyway, but the fact that you have to jump through even more bureaucratic hoops for people who struggle with executive functioning makes it even harder,” Jess said.
“It feels like a full-time job just to get a life-changing drug that will help me become more functional as a human being. For now, it feels like a useless mess. I feel it.”
Of all the pharmacies Jess contacted, only five had even a small amount of monthly prescriptions in stock. And such a deficiency has already affected ADHD patients three times this year.
Jess was eventually able to get about 12 days worth of prescriptions and has picked up the remaining prescriptions from the pharmacy, but she’s still skeptical she’ll be able to get them before they run out.
Another patient, Jenny (not her real name), said she had not taken the 70mg dose of Elvanse for over a week because it was out of stock.
The 49-year-old social worker told MailOnline: “I went to many pharmacies and none had spare stock. Only one contained Elvanse, 40 mg and 30 mg.
She said: “Since finding out I have ADHD and taking medication, I understand myself better and my quality of life has improved significantly,” but now she can’t afford the medication and is losing her career. He said he was worried that it might happen.
“I’m currently on Universal Credit and waiting to hear back from ESA, but as I was refused PIP I can’t afford to pay my car loan at all now and could lose my car. And it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to work as a social worker or even find a job without a car.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said: “We are aware that due to increased global demand, supply issues are impacting medicines used to manage ADHD, and we are aware that healthcare professionals are looking forward to managing patients during this time. “We have notified the NHS to advise the individual.” .
“We will continue to work closely with each manufacturer to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and ensure patients continue to have access to ADHD medicines in the UK.”
