[runnerup]

> is it any surprise that Xanax and Adderall are being limited?

That depends on who is doing the limiting — if the pharmacy corporations are self-limiting then I would understand they are limiting their potential exposure/liability to whatever risk level they are comfortable with. I’ll still be able to find my necessary drugs at another chain which doesn’t limit.

If the government is doing the limiting, then yes, that would be surprising. That seems to be the case here, and I think it’s a very inappropriate response — totally attacks the wrong part of the system.

[zamnos]

The article goes to lengths to describe how the government, specifically the DEA are limiting supply by issuing edicts to pharmaceutical companies. Corporations don't generally defy government edicts, especially ones that lead to raids and jail time, so we really can say it's the government's doing here, rather than particularly self-limiting behavior on the part of the pharmaceutical companies.

That the government is threatening defiance of edicts with fines and jail time and not using direct means to stop additional production is not a distinction worth making - the government is limiting the supply of these medications.

[landemva]

Can you please provide a cite? I tend to think this coercion probably is happening.

Agency rule making should be public and published in federal register. I don't know what the effective recourse would be. The easy track is to go to Mexico and load up on what your Dr. prescribed.

[zamnos]

I agree should be, but unfortunately that's not the case. Not in proper detail. Broadly, the DEA's power comes from the Controlled Substances Act, originally passed in 1970 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controlled_Substances_Act, but the modern day limits themselves are secret.

The medications described are Schedule II, which is defined as "The drug or other substance has a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States or a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions."

One citation for the limits being secret are:

Ike Swetlitz, I (2023) "Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits". Bloomberg, Online edition. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-03/adderall-...

> Xanax and Adderall Access Is Being Blocked by Secret Drug Limits

> The Drug Enforcement Administration regulates the manufacturing, distribution and sale of controlled substances, which can be dangerous when used improperly

> the limits themselves are secret.

> A Cardinal Health document reviewed by Bloomberg News says that limits are calculated on a daily, monthly, and quarterly basis.

[landemva]

Someone willng to pursue a lawsuit might file a FOIA and pursue in court for non-response. A sketchy approach could be suing pharmacy for ... something ... then find the limits for that company via legal discovery. Land of the free or not.

[zamnos]

We might be able to get the ACLU to sign on. They've filed a number of lawsuits for patients being denied gender-affirming care in various states. Without getting into a debate about the politics of gender-affirming care, those lawsuits would seem to spell out that denial of life-affirming care that sufferers of ADHD, a federally recognized disability, have experienced could give them legal standing to sue doctors over.

[chrsig]

> those lawsuits would seem to spell out that denial of life-affirming care that sufferers of ADHD, a federally recognized disability, have experienced could give them legal standing to sue doctors over.

As a person with adhd, why would i want to sue my provider? They have nothing to do with why there's been an adderall shortage since october. it seems to me the last thing I want to do is make providers feel averse to treating adhd out of concern for being sued.

[jijji]

as per the article, the limits are being imposed by the DEA not the pharmacies and not the distributors.... a better approach would be to do a FOIA on the DEA and get all evidence about their restrictions on distributors for schedule IV narcotics (xanax, adderall, etc) and then sue the DEA maybe for interfering with interstae commerce, i dont know...

[runnerup]

> The easy track is to go to Mexico and load up on what your Dr. prescribed.

I believe you can only do this with unscheduled drugs so it is not a successful strategy for opiates and amphetamine.

[kevviiinn]

The DEA needs to justify their existence somehow