Your guide to understanding why Concerta is always out of stock.

If you’ve been taking stimulants for a while, you’ll remember the initial major shortage that started in October 2022. The initial shortage stemmed from a combination of factors, including delays in manufacturing, regulatory issues, and an increase in patients prescribed Concerta. While the severity of the initial shortage has lessened, there continue to be issues with Concerta (and alternatives to Concerta) supply. People are constantly wondering why, so we figured we’d cover the basics. 

Plus, we’ve got a few tips for finding Concerta in stock. 

For the full guide on how to find Concerta in stock near you, click here!‍

Why is it so hard to find Concerta in stock?

There are tons of reasons that Concerta is difficult to find. We’ll try to keep this overview brief but informative. 

National Concerta shortages

Manufacturing delays and DEA production limits have caused a lot of difficulty in ensuring access to this medication. While the number of ADHD diagnoses continues to grow, the cap on production limits by the DEA remains the same. It is likely that even if manufacturers never had delays, the production limit cap placed by the DEA would likely still make Concerta difficult to find near you.

Increased demand

In recent years, the demand for ADHD medications like Concerta has grown significantly, outpacing the DEA production cap and creating widespread shortages. In the last 10 years, ADHD diagnoses are estimated to have increased by around 34% in the U.S., while the production caps haven't increased by much at all.

Pharmacy limits

We know it's easy to always blame the pharmacy - but it's not just on them! Pharmacies have limits on the number of controlled substances they are able to order, and also have limits on the number of controlled substance scripts that they are able to fill. Oftentimes, pharmacies are able to get medication in stock, but aren't always able to take on more patients for a controlled substance like Concerta.

Pharmacy reimbursements

When you pick up a medication that is covered by your insurance, your pharmacy sends out a claim to your insurance company, and your insurance company pays the pharmacy a pre-negotiated rate for that medication that is specific to your health plan.

Many medications, including many stimulants like Concerta, are what we call Under-Reimbursed - meaning that the price the pharmacy had to pay to purchase the medications is nearly the same amount (or more) than what they are making by dispensing the medication. Pharmacies actually lose money on prescriptions more often than you would think, and even when they do make money, they don't always make much.

At the end of the day, a pharmacy is still a business, and they have to make money to stay alive. So when drugs are under-reimbursed, they are far more hesitant to stock and dispense them.

This creates false scarcity for a lot of medications like Concerta. It's not always just that a pharmacy can't get a medication, but they often make a business decision not to purchase a medication because they know they will lose money if they offer it to patients.

Final thoughts

We know navigating pharmacies is complicated, and we’re here to be your guide! Simply put, these are the ongoing reasons Concerta and alternatives are hard to find: 

1. National shortages caused by increasing demand and supply caps set by the DEA.
2. Increasing ADHD diagnoses in the United States.
3. Pharmacies are limited in how much they can dispense controlled substances like Concerta each month. 
4. Pharmacies may not have a strong financial incentive to stock & distribute medications like Concerta. 

Finding Concerta  (or any other prescription) doesn't have to be so stressful. With tools like Medfinder and a better understanding of how the pharmacy system works, you can cut down the stress and the phone calls, and keep yourself on track with your treatment. 

If you’d like our guide on finding Concerta, click here.