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December 2009

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Update on Generic Rx: Approach with Caution

December 20, 2009 in ADHD medication, Questions about Adult ADHD | 8 comments

imagesTo save money, many people with ADHD take generic medications. Most have received assurances from  their physicians that “bioequivalence” with the brand-name version is required and assured. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. Increasingly, patients who do notice a significant difference between brand-name and generic are making their voices heard.

The ADHD Roller Coaster covered this topic a few months ago, after I read an outrageous Consumer Reports press release that  even warned consumers away from brand-name medications for ADHD as being too costly and unnecessary.  I countered with this blog post on the potential dangers of generic medications for treating ADHD and co-existing conditions.

With other readers, I left comments at the Consumer Reports blog post (“Parents: Don’t rush Children to Adderall, Concerta, Strattera”).

Today’s New York Times article (“Not All Drugs Are the Same After All”) today backs up my points on generics. Some snippets: Read the rest of this entry »

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Attention Amazon Shoppers–a Cost-Free Way to Support the ADHD Roller Coaster

December 5, 2009 in The Basics | No comments

Dear readers,


Each time you shop at Amazon, Amazon will make a donation to keep this ADHD Roller Coaster blog and The ADHD Partner blog rolling along — at NO extra cost to you!

It’s simple: Just begin all your Amazon shopping expeditions from this link (just book mark it).

http://tinyurl.com/y8wu2st

If you do that, Amazon will send a tiny percentage of all purchases my way.  Books. DVDs. Appliances. You name it!

As most of you know, my ADHD volunteerism  is reaching the decade mark soon. And every little bit helps towards maintaining three blogs, hosting websites, donating copies of the book to those in need, speaking to groups about Adult ADHD, and more.

Thanks so much and happiest of holidays!

Gina

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Update: Baseball Players, ADHD, and Rx

December 3, 2009 in ADHD in the News | 3 comments

Pressured by Congress to crack down  on performance-enhancing drugs and “false claims of A.D.D.,”  Major League Baseball is pleased to report that the number of exemptions for ADHD medications are tapering off.  Is this really news worth celebrating?  I’m not so sure.baseball

In 2007, the number of players receiving exemptions for ADHD rose to 108, from 28 in 2006.  That figure strikes me as reasonable, not alarming, given increasing public awareness during that time period.

After all, the players receiving exemptions represent about 9 percent of total players, which number  1,200 or so.  Extremely conservative estimates place the percentage of adults with ADHD in the general population at about 4 percent, but experts acknowledge that using more realistic criteria bumps the figure as high as 16 percent.

Yet, as reported in a previous post (“Anti-Doper Doc Dopey about ADHD?”), this spike created quite the rhubarb among sports officials, including non-savvy ADHD physicians. (“This is incredible. This is quite spectacular. There seems to be an epidemic of ADD in major league baseball,” said Dr. Gary Wadler, chairman of the committee that determines the banned-substances list for the World Anti-Doping Agency.)

This recent article in The New York Times article (“Number of M.L.B. Players Given Drug Exemptions Up Slightly“) explains the latest report on all medication exemptions.

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