(NEW YORK) — After weeks of individual reports of frustration with getting Adderall prescriptions filled, the Food and Drug Administration confirmed Wednesday a nationwide shortage of the immediate release formulation of amphetamine mixed salts, commonly referred to by the brand name Adderall.

Adderall is a stimulant medication that can treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It requires a prescription and as a controlled substance, supply is strictly monitored, and distribution is limited.

Some individuals already knew there was a problem having reported going weeks without medication and calling multiple pharmacies to fill prescriptions. Some patients have had trouble filling Adderall prescriptions since August.

“It’s like the feeling when you first wake up in the morning, and you can’t quite think, except all day long for me without [Adderall]. It really affects my life,” Daryl Linley, a Wheat Ridge resident, told ABC’s Denver affiliate, KMGH-TV.

Teva, the largest maker of generic Adderall in the U.S., told ABC News “the supply that we are manufacturing/distributing right now is on pace to be consistent – or greater than – our supply at this time last year by the end of this year. The demand is not.”

The company said they are experiencing “intermittent backorders” as “there has been a significant rise in national prescription rates, this can cause some constraint to product availability.” Teva says disruptions will only be “temporary” and expects inventory to recover within months.

Major retail pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens have also noted supply chain constraints. A CVS spokesperson told ABC News they are “aware of intermittent shortages of generic amphetamine medication in the supply chain,” adding their pharmacists “will work with patients who are prescribed this medication as needed.”

Another supplier of the drug, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals (a division of Novartis), told ABC News there is no “shortage” of Sandoz amphetamine (generic Adderall) in the market at this time and the company is meeting all current customer orders.

The constraints on the supply have led to many voicing the challenges of getting their prescriptions filled at their regular pharmacy.

In Kentucky, a Fayette County school board member, Stephanie Spires, said the issue was “significantly impacting our classrooms,” at a meeting Monday.

“I talked to a parent today who said she was able to get five pills,” Spires said.

The shortage of this key treatment for so many Americans, especially kids, comes as the new school year kicks into gear. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that almost 10% of children have ADHD as of 2019, and these numbers may have increased during the pandemic.

There are many reasons for constrained supply, including tight regulation due to its classification as a schedule II drug which the Drug Enforcement Administration defines as “drugs with a high potential for abuse, with use potentially leading to severe psychological or physical dependence.” In addition, labor shortages, supply chain issues and an increase in the number of people who have been prescribed the drug in recent years may have an effect on supply.

“While stopping Adderall is generally not life-threatening, rebound symptoms, including inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity, may return and be distressing,” Dr. ​​Anish Dube from the American Psychiatric Association told ABC News.

Doctors and law enforcement officials warn that people should never buy Adderall outside of a pharmacy — including from a friend, as these pills may be counterfeit and/or laced with other lethal substances. The DEA says many fake pills, containing fentanyl, are made to look like prescription stimulants like amphetamines (Adderall) but could be potentially deadly.

If people are struggling to obtain their medication and feel they’ve exhausted all options, they should call their pharmacist or doctor to discuss a plan.

“Those with more severe symptoms should discuss contingency plans with their psychiatrists on how to manage symptoms without medication,” said Dube.

A “classroom of kids who have had to quit their meds cold turkey because they can’t get them – we’ve got some issues going on and brewing here,” Spires, in Kentucky, said. “And it’s not just kids, it’s adults as well. But for us in our purpose here, is children that are not getting what they need, or not coming into the classroom prepared to learn – and it creates a stressful environment for all involved.”

In their announcement, the Food and Drug Administration said they would “continue to use all the tools we have available to help keep supply available for patients.”

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(NEW YORK) — About 11.5 million Americans have received the updated bivalent COVID-19 booster, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The booster was rolled out at the beginning of September with the Pfizer booster approved for those aged 12 and older and the Moderna booster approved for those aged 18 and older.

This expanded to use among those aged 5 and older for the Pfizer booster and aged 6 and older for the Moderna booster Monday.

Experts told ABC News that while it’s great many Americans have gotten the new booster, they are worried uptake is not as high as it should be ahead of the colder weather months, when COVID-19 typically spreads much more quickly.

“We clearly have had a slowdown in just overall boosting, and that’s driven by a lot of factors,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. “One being the fact that we’re not in a surge right now. So, there’s not this like immediacy of risk that people are facing, and I think that may change as we head into the winter months and potentially new variants emerge.”

Brownstein also said there is evidence of COVID fatigue and vaccine fatigue, with people wanting to move on from the pandemic and not thinking of the virus as a major threat.

Another factor may be confusion over who can get the booster.

A new Kaiser Family Foundation poll found half of participants had either heard little or nothing about the new bivalent COVID-19 booster, which targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5. Additionally, some Americans don’t know if the updated booster is recommended for them.

“There has been challenges in the communication strategy around the booster,” Brownstein said. “Is it a booster? Is it an annual shot? There’s a lack of awareness that even the vaccine was reformulated. So, I think generally, there’s some confusion and lack of awareness that are also slowing down uptake.”

The updated bivalent booster targets the omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5, which currently make up most COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

That’s not to say that some Americans haven’t rushed to get the booster.

On Sept. 23, there were 4.4 million people who had received the new booster, meaning more than twice as many have received the booster since.

Additionally, the seven-day average of total vaccine doses being administered rose from an average of 118,000 as of Sept. 7 to 549,000 as of Sept. 28, CDC data shows.

“It does tell you people are still going out and getting that booster,” Brownstein said. “There may not have been that immediate sort of rush on vaccines because they’re widely available and there wasn’t a looming threat.”

He continued, “So, we are seeing a steady rise of people still going and getting immunized, which is great. But it would be great to see if we could pick up that pace.”

Brownstein said to increase uptake, he recommends continuing to educate the public and spread awareness of the boosters and improving access by making the shot available at community vaccination sites or hubs as opposed to just pharmacies or doctors’ offices.

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(NEW YORK) — Children ages 8 and older should be screened by physicians for anxiety, according to new guidelines published Tuesday.

The new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force apply to children who are not showing recognized symptoms of anxiety or depression and who do not have a diagnosed mental health condition.

The call for screenings marks a first for the task force, an independent group of medical experts whose views carry enormous weight in the medical community. Its recommendations often change the way doctors practice medicine.

The task force also re-emphasized in its recommendations that children ages 12 and older should also be screened for depression.

“For something to be recommended as a screening test, the condition needs to be common, it needs to be treatable, and the screening test needs to be inexpensive and easy to implement,” said ABC News chief medical correspondent Dr. Jennifer Ashton, who is not a task force member. “This checks all those boxes.”

In its recommendation, the task force noted that nearly 8% of children ages 3 to 17 had a current anxiety disorder, and that kids under age 18 who have anxiety disorders have an “increased likelihood of a future anxiety disorder or depression.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of children over age 6 ever having been diagnosed with anxiety or depression increased from 5.4% in 2003 to 8.4% in 2012.

“Mental health illnesses are on the rise, particularly in teens and younger children, and we have heard and talked about it so many times, it deserves attention,” said Ashton. “There is a growing mental health crisis in this age group.”

The task force said it was not recommending anxiety or depression screenings for kids ages 7 and under because there is not enough evidence to demonstrate the benefits and harms of screenings for that age group.

Anxiety is the feeling evoked when someone experiences fear of something bad happening. It can lead to avoidance, panic attacks, excessive worrying or other symptoms. Anyone can have anxiety at times, but when anxiety symptoms become overwhelming to the point that they consistently interfere with daily life, it can be an anxiety disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Like most mental health conditions, anxiety falls on a spectrum, with differing degrees of severity.

In children, symptoms of anxiety may include interruptions in sleeping patterns or difficulty sleeping and excessive emotions in terms of anger, irritability and clingy behaviors. Kids may also demonstrate physical symptoms like an upset stomach or a headache, according to Ashton.

Treatment for anxiety is available and may include things like child therapy and family therapy. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle by eating well, being physically active and getting adequate sleep can also help the symptoms of anxiety, according to the CDC.

Ashton said the most important thing for parents is to be in touch with their child’s health care provider so they can get help as needed.

“It’s not your job to be a doctor and diagnose your child,” she said. “Talk to your child’s pediatrician or health care provider.”

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