Sullum On The Adderall Shortage
Jacob Sullum at reason posted a terrific blog item on the Adderall shortage, linking to my earlier blog post on how there's no Adderall in pharmacies to fill my prescription. Sullum writes (but read the whole post):
Meanwhile, manufacturers of generic Adderall, a.k.a. "amphetamine mixed salts immediate-release tablets," cite "increase in demand" (Sandoz and CorePharma) or "API [active pharmaceutical ingredient] supply issues" (Teva) as explanations for the shortage. Those are two ways of saying the same thing: Demand exceeds supply--i.e., there's a shortage. Why is there a shortage? Because there's a shortage! Duh.Notwithstanding the DEA's denials, it should be obvious that if the government did not insist on getting between people and the drugs they want, supply would meet demand, as it tends to do in a free market. Trying to figure out why there is a shortage of a government-controlled substance is like trying to figure out why the Soviet Union did not have enough windshield wipers to replace ones that wore out. At some point, a central planner miscalculated, as they tend to do. According to MSNBC, manufacturers "say that as they receive their new DEA allocations in the new year, the shortages may subside."
For the sake of Alkon and all the others whose lives have been senselessly disrupted by the government's pharmacological edicts, I hope that's true.
...The implication is that doctors are overdiagnosing and/or overprescribing, a pretty tricky call to make when dealing with an objectively unverifiable psychiatric condition like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Notice that the Tampa Bay Times, hewing to prohibitionist orthodoxy, describes using Adderall to study for an exam as "abusing the drug"--unless, of course, the student has jumped through the requisite hoops, saying the right things to qualify for a diagnosis and earn the magical slip of paper that transforms abuse into medicine. Why empower doctors to decide who "really" needs Adderall when adults should be able to decide that for themselves?
He's right on about that. What's with the notion that it's drug "abuse" to take a drug that helps you study better -- providing that you aren't stealing my TV, losing your job, and making the rest of us pay for your rehab?
Why are we treated by our government like a nation of 8-year-olds? Oh yeah...because we vote in the people who support treating us that way.
While there is nothing wrong with using prescription drugs according to doctor's orders, taking more of those drugs more frequently that what the physician ordered might already be construed as prescription drug abuse.
Government Price Controls Produce Cancer Drug Shortage
08/08/11 - Reason.com and The NYTimes
Nuanced government intervention produces a better, cheaper world. The story for cancer drugs also applies to any drug with a fluctuating price. Any drop in price is welcome, then is locked in to a slow and painful path of increase while shortages develop. Motto: "Evil drug companies reduce prices due to competition, but they increase prices because of greed. Only government can create a fair society."
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[edited] Drug companies used to charge inflated prices to Medicare and insurance companies, “average wholesale prices". President G.W. Bush signed The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003. Medicare would pay a drug’s actual average selling price plus 6%. It indirectly restricted the prices from increasing by more than 6% every six months, because of the time it takes drug companies to compile actual sales data, and the government to revise the average selling price.
An unintended consequence. In the first three years after a cancer drug goes generic, its price can drop by as much as 90% as manufacturers compete for market share. But, if a shortage develops, the drug’s price cannot increase again to attract more manufacturers [or supply]. The low profit margin [from this price control] means that manufacturers face a hard choice: lose money producing a lifesaving drug or switch limited production capacity to a more lucrative drug.
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Andrew_M_Garland at December 28, 2011 11:44 AM
"Central planner" ... now that sounds scary! I'd like to be in charge of my own planning, thanks anyways - well, as much as we're allowed at this point. Kinda hard to plan anything (even medical treatment) when you have to check with Daddy first!
Jess at December 28, 2011 1:26 PM
Is everybody ready for drug panels to decide whether or not you should be able to get medication?
Cousin Dave at December 28, 2011 4:16 PM
I guess you should be glad that in the US, we use modern "one-year plans" instead of the old Soviet "five-year plans."
Dwatney at December 28, 2011 6:55 PM
"Adderall shortage" is an anagram for "A Redhead's Rag Toll."
clinky at December 29, 2011 3:07 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2011/12/28/sullum_on_the_a.html#comment-2883342">comment from clinkyAdderall shortage is an anagram for "Bad Week To Cross Amy." (By driving recklessly, shouting into phone in quiet cafe, etc.)
Amy Alkon at December 29, 2011 4:22 PM
"Is everybody ready for drug panels to decide whether or not you should be able to get medication?"
Say that again!
Because when things are "free", they must be rationed.
By someone who does not care about your situation, because they have a quota to meet.
"No, sir, you are not being denied coverage. It's just not available. Please sit down."
Radwaste at January 1, 2012 6:54 AM
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