Before Londi Gamedze was diagnosed with ADHD during the first year of her Ph.D. program, she remembers feeling overwhelmed by the workload,\u00a0and wondering to herself: \u201cHow are we supposed to do this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then she was prescribed Ritalin, a stimulant that helps treat ADHD symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a complete revelation,\u201d Gamedze said. \u201cIt improved the quality of my life and my capacity to actually be a student.\u201d<\/p>\n
But on Oct. 31, 2025, Gamedze received a notification from the University Health Services Pharmacy that it could not provide her with her Ritalin prescription due to \u201cordering and stock issues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gamedze is not the only one. Numerous students told The Daily Californian that they have been unable to obtain their prescribed ADHD medications from the UHS Pharmacy\u00a0\u2014 even after the UHS said it had absolved the initial issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, students say that they have gone without their medication for months, while access to pharmacies near campus remains an ongoing issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to Lindsey Michels, critical communications manager of Student Affairs Communications, UHS Pharmacy was unable to order new controlled medications, including ADHD stimulants such as Ritalin, \u201cdue to the departure of personnel with access to the (Drug Enforcement Administration) ordering system.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Michels said access to the DEA ordering system has since been resolved, and that campus has been doing outreach to let students know that they can refill their prescriptions again. Additionally, Michels said the pharmacy contacted students who had ADHD prescriptions to inform them of the disruption and to encourage them to work with prescribers to send subsequent prescriptions to an alternative pharmacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSeparately, as has been the case nationally for several years, intermittent supply chain shortages of certain stimulant ADHD medications can unpredictably affect pharmacies across the country, including UHS,\u201d Michels added in an email.<\/p>\n
Gamedze said she has repeatedly tried and failed to obtain her medication at other pharmacies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t have stock or they wouldn\u2019t accept my prescription because of the type of psychiatrist I see,\u201d Gamezde said. \u201cI don\u2019t have a car, so I was not calling pharmacies all over the Bay. So that\u2019s where I\u2019m at. I\u2019m very frustrated.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition, Gamedze said she has not yet been notified by the UHS as to when it would be able to fill her prescription again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Campus sophomore Victoria Hernandez Padillawas similarly notified by the UHS that her medication would be unavailable. She has also been without medication for several months, and says she has not received any communications from the UHS that her medication is available again.<\/p>\n
Hernandez Padilla said being without medication has severely impacted her performance in school, and last semester \u2014 when her prescription was cut off \u2014 she received her worst grades since starting at Berkeley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c(People are telling me) to drop a class,\u201d Hernandez Padilla said. \u201cBut I have to take this class. I shouldn\u2019t have to drop a class to be able to manage it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stephen Hinshaw, a campus professor of psychology who has studied ADHD extensively, said in an email that regularity in medication use is crucial for those who take prescribed ADHD medication.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hinshaw noted that going without medication can not only compromise a person\u2019s organizational and time management skills, but can also increase their risk for anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n
Gamedze said when she goes without her medication, she experiences a \u201ccrash,\u201d and a \u201chaze\u201d for a few days, and that she has been struggling to rebuild routine.<\/p>\n