Children and adults with ADHD have been struggling for weeks to buy in pharmacies across Spain the drug that allows them to have a functional life: methylphenidate. There are patients who have had to stop taking the drug because they could not find it in any establishment, confirm the Spanish Society of Pediatric Neurology (Senep) and the Spanish Federation of ADHD Associations (Feaadah).
Both are concerned about a situation that will not have a solution in the short term: the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (Aemps), which depends on the Ministry of Health, has reported that the supply is not will return to normal than in the first half. the year 2025. “At present, the various laboratories are releasing units, but they are not enough to cover demand,” recognizes Aemps in a press release. And it attributes the lack of supply to “capacity issues at manufacturing plants and a greater-than-expected increase in global demand.”
Not everyone diagnosed with this disorder takes medication, but it is what is prescribed as a first option when previous alternatives, such as therapy or strategies with family and school, do not work. It is an active ingredient – marketed by three laboratories with different names (Concerta by Janssen, Rubicrone Rubió Laboratories and Atenza from Exeltis Healthcare) – which is used to reduce symptoms of “inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity”. “Not taking it daily can lead to complicated situations. In children with significant behavioral problems, if impulsivity and disorganization are not controlled, a significant family and school imbalance can occur,” describes neuropsychiatrist Marcos Madruga, secretary of Senep.
Not taking it can lead to complicated situations. In children with significant behavioral problems, if impulsivity and disorganization are not controlled, they can cause significant imbalance.
Mothers and fathers have already visited your consultation, very nervous and worried about no longer having capsules for their children. “In these cases – develops the neuropsychiatrist – we offer them an alternative but we know that it is not the best option: prescribing a drug that has a shorter release of the compound. The one that has supply problems is the one that operates for 12 hours, so we combine the eight and four hours; or we put another, lisdesampetamine, but it is more expensive and you often need a special visa.
Around 150,000 boys and girls suffer from this disorder in Spain. Marcos Cores is the father of a seven-year-old child who has been following Concerta for three years. To buy the last bottle of capsules, ten days ago he visited 40 pharmacies in Galicia. “I ended up achieving it, but it was an odyssey, I’m in tension because maybe I’m lucky or not. “I look at the map and I start calling like crazy,” he says in conversation with elDiario.es. Her son experienced a “radical change” at the start of treatment: he can concentrate and be calm.
The Spanish Federation of ADHD Associations (Feaadah) filed a complaint with the Ombudsman this Monday after reporting cases of shortages throughout Spain. “Families make a pilgrimage to pharmacies here and there and they don’t succeed. We are talking about a medication necessary to have a functional daily life. It’s not just concentration, it’s self-regulation of emotions, help with management…”, defends the president of the federation, Maite Urquizu.
To scale the situation: in Euskadi alone, 60% of people diagnosed take medication and this is the first treatment tried on them, according to data managed by Urquizu.
What the laboratories say
There have been specific times of shortage of supply, all sources consulted agree, but never like now. Never this long. The boxes arrive in droplets and are distributed equitably throughout the territory, specifies Aemps, so that, in the context of the shortage, the distribution is equitable. “The cost of this situation is enormous for families and for the health system, which must urgently treat patients to offer them an alternative,” explains Madruga.
“Given the possibility that it may not be possible to start or continue treatment with methylphenidate sustained-release tablet presentations,” Aemps recommends that new patients start taking certain subtypes of the drug directly. available. The current risk, Urquizu warns, is that demand for these other drugs – modified-release, as they are called – will increase significantly and a new shortage will occur.
Janssen, to questions from elDiario.es, responds that the situation is due to “production limitations”, without further details, and to “growing demand in multiple markets”. The laboratory claims to be striving to “minimize the impact” and excludes that the shortage is due to a “safety, effectiveness or quality problem”. The other two laboratories were contacted through this method without receiving a response.
