Speed limits: where's the Adderall?

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - Adderall Xr shortage - Brief article

SINCE THE spring of 2011, patients, doctors, and pharmacists across the country have been reporting shortages of Adderall, a combination of amphetamine and dextroamphetamine that is prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In December The New York Times reported that "hundreds of patients complain daily to the Food and Drug Administration that they are unable to find a pharmacy with enough pills to fill their prescriptions."

The response from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which controls the legal supply of Adderall's active ingredients: Shortage? What shortage? The DEA insists that both its overall ceiling for "amphetamine mixed salts" and its quotas for individual manufacturers have been perfectly adequate to meet the legitimate medical demand.

The manufacturers disagree, saying the DEA is too stingy and too slow to raise quotas in response to their requests. Alternatives to the short-acting, generic Adderall tablets manufactured by Sandoz, CorePharma, and Teva--including brand-name Adderall capsules, Ritalin, and various newer...