Neighborhood News: The Empty Adderall Vault

A local drug manufacturer's problems are exacerbating the national shortage.

- James D. Walsh

A YEAR AND A HALF into a scarcity of ADHD medications, Americans are still struggling to fill their prescriptions for Adderall, Vyvanse, Concerta, and other stimulants. The government blames multiple overlapping causes: manufacturing problems, labor issues, supplychain failures, and a huge rise in demand in the form of new prescriptions written during the pandemic. Ascent Pharmaceuticals, a generic-drug maker that operates in Central Islip, claims another factor is compounding the shortage, one that's completely sui generis: It has been shut down by the Drug Enforcement Administration.