Parents struggle to track down ADHD medication for their children as shortage continues

Redwood City, California — For Kristin Coronado of Redwood City in Northern California, finding the ADHD drugs her son Dom needs can be a challenge.

"I'm a mother looking for my son's medication," Coronado told CBS News. "I'm not a drug dealer. That's how they make you feel. I tried another pharmacy, and that led to like, pharmacy to pharmacy…You're on your own, deal with it."

Dom, age 6, takes a generic version of the drug dexmethylphenidate, sold under the brand name Focalin XR, made by Lannett. Focalin XR, like other ADHD drugs, contains a controlled substance that is tightly regulated by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

U.S. drugmakers claim they are manufacturing all they can, yet patients and doctor's offices still have to keep pharmacy-shopping to find it.

"As soon as they're without medication, you see a return of untreated ADHD symptoms," said child psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Holten, medical director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Clinic at Emory University. "…They take an action that can harm them, or even take their lives."

Coronado showed CBS News a spreadsheet with 25 local pharmacies she regularly contacts as she tries to fill her son's prescription. 

"Tomorrow, I have to count the pills that I have left, you know, see what day that ends on, and then start the process all over again," Coronado said.

Prescriptions for ADHD medications have grown in the U.S. and around the world in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Food and Drug Administration predicts that medical use of amphetamine, methylphenidate and lisdexamfetamine to treat ADHD and other issues in the U.S. will climb 3.1% in 2024. 

The FDA said earlier this year it blamed "increased prescribing potentially related to the growth in telemedicine, supply chain issues, manufacturing and quality issues, and business decisions of manufacturers" for contributing to the ongoing shortages. 

The DEA sets caps on the production of ADHD treatments each year. 

Drugmakers say the DEA needs to release more of the controlled substances. The DEA counters that drugmakers have not used up their supply.

Lannett and the DEA both had no comment to CBS News. 

Caught in the middle are children like Dom.

"It has to be addressed," Holten said. "These children, these families, deserve better."

Coronado finally tracked down a refill for Dom's medication. He is set, at least for another month.

— Alexander Tin contributed to this report. 

In:
• ADHD
• Drug Enforcement Administration

Mark Strassmann

Mark Strassmann has been a CBS News correspondent since January 2001 and is based in the Atlanta bureau.