Photo: AFP / Thom Leach / Science Photo Library
Pharmac says shortages in some ADHD drugs are expected to last throughout 2026.
Its chief medical officer, Dr David Hughes, told RNZ that rising demand and manufacturing constraints meant supply remained unpredictable.
“Pharmac is working closely with suppliers and clinicians to manage an ongoing global supply issue affecting methylphenidate, used to treat ADHD and narcolepsy.
“Rising demand and overseas manufacturing constraints have led to intermittent shortages, with some brands going in and out of stock.”
The drug option most affected was methylphenidate, used in branded treatments such as Ritalin, and Concerta.
Hughes said while availability of methylphenidate had improved this year, with stock continuing to arrive in New Zealand, ongoing supply was unpredictable.
Pharmac had funded a new brand of methylphenidate along with an alternative medication, Lisdexamfetamine.
ADHD New Zealand said clinicians have identified that children and adolescents need priority access to slow release methylphenidate and have suggested prescribing alternative medications for any newly diagnosed adults.
Wellington GP Dr Michael Buckley, who has a special interest in ADHD, was predicting even further demand for the medicines as more people are diagnosed.
He told Nine to Noon the demand was due to a number of factors, including more awareness of ADHD.
“That is becoming more known and so the demand’s increasing there, which is appropriate for the people who do need it and were under-recognised before too.
“The awareness is growing among adults who may have not met a severity or impact or been able to compensate through their lives, but have found that they’ve reached a point where either they want to understand why their life has felt harder than they felt it should be, or they’ve got a confluence of factors in their life which means that life’s now unsustainable or everything’s built up.”
As a result, he said adults were seeking answers and more understanding.
Social media as an outlet for information was another tool helping people become more aware of ADHD and its symptoms.
Buckley said many of the medicines used to treat ADHD were old and that meant there tended to be low margins in the manufacturing process.
“The way that supply chains work at the moment … and all of the things that we found in the Covid pandemic, you don’t need much disruption to supply chains for things to really start to get disrupted,” he said.
“And everywhere around the world, there’s a lot of nervousness and weariness about these medicines.”
He said most jurisdictions placed extra restrictions on the medicines as they did have recreational demand.
Buckley said the Middle East Conflict was another added complexity.
“It’s just going to push out the timelines. It’s just going to alter the goal posts of what our procurement people are trying to manage in terms of lead times and ordering,” he said.
“So yeah, that’s going to add more complexity. You sort of feel a little bit punch drunk from bits, just one more impact.
“We’re down here, we’re the cul-de-sac at the end of the world and anything that happens in the world seems to delay delivery of stuff to New Zealand.”
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