Saturday, November 5, 2011

Medication Shortages

Joe has been diagnosed with ADD since he was 32. He has had ADD since he was a kid but it was never diagnosed or treated. The hazard of being a child in a family of 7 parented by a single Mom, some things slip through the cracks. His ADD was one of them. He learned how to cope the best he could but once he went back to school we both knew getting it officially diagnosed and getting treatment was the only way he would excel in rigorous coursework. So he's being doing great. He's on medication that helps him immensely with his concentration and focus. BUT. It's a medication that is abused and is under strict controls because of that. And it's in a serious shortage because of manufacturing issues and its general overuse and abuse. You think your kid has ADD, sure, we'll just medicate him that's fine. So all those kids that are now being medicated without a firm diagnosis and teenagers who are abusing the meds for fun are causing a serious shortage.

Every month is a scavenger hunt for us to find a pharmacy that his it in stock, and if they do have it, do they have enough to fill the entire script. With the protections on this medication you can't just fill it partially and then go back for the remainder when it comes in. If you fill it partially you don't get the remainder of the meds, and that is not good. So Joe has been without meds for 4 days unbeknownst to me. He told me this morning how off he was feeling, how he has been unable to concentrate and buckle down to study. These meds really do change your body chemistry. So I spent this morning calling the pharmacies in town to find 1 that had the full script available. Thank god for Walgreens, they were the only one. I rushed out in my PJs with coffee in hand to get his script before they were out too. So we're good for another 30 days, which takes him through the end of the semester.

I HATE that getting his meds has become such a hassle. It feels like some months it would be easier to get them on the street corner downtown.

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