Comments on: Generic Adderall XR in the US

By: Jammie

Jammie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 21:37:03 +0000

Dear John,
Well said. I recently had this same conversation with my pharmacist. Funny thing about Shire giving up the patent… is one has to question what exactly did Shire give up? There have been so many acquisitions between Barr, Teva, Shire,etc… but at the end of the business day, they are all really the same company. Shire “gave up” their patent to the Adderall XR nine years earlier than they had to. Why would a company with a patent until 2018, give up the patent in 2009? MONEY!! I feel that you are so correct about the newest and shiniest Shire ADD drug, Vyvanse. Shire does want us all to jump off the Adderall XR ship and onto their new “lifeboat”, The Vyvanse. I won’t be doing it. It sucks that the FDA allows this monopoly on these drugs to exist. I find it very disgusting that once again, something that was supposed to be good for consumers–generic drugs–with better pricing and more readily availibility–has been taken away from the consumer. I feel so badly for all of the children who are being wronged by Shire’s SELFISHNESS!! Does the FDA really exist? I’m wondering if the FDA should be placed in the same category as Santa Claus and unicorns.

By: Shelly

Shelly — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:08:45 +0000

No, expect nothing from the FDA. I did the same thing and they blew me off. As for “sticking with the brand name”, Dr. Kenny, as you can see by the posts…this too proves unreliable. I have what is marked Adderall XR but it is certainly not.
My question now is what do I try in place of the Adderall XR? My daughter took the Vyvanse prior to the Adderall and it made her nuts. I mean angry beyond words. So, since that drug is out (she and I both need to find a replacement now), I need to find out where to go from here. There a very few Psych docs available in my area anymore and my doctor actually turned to her computer once I explained my problem and looked it up on the internet. She got to a blog site, read over it outloud and then suggested that we try the drug the blogger tried. This, though she knew nothing about this drug herself.
I want to be normal again Dr. Kenny. I want to have a normal focus and have a normal disposition with no deep depression. Can you or anyone give me a suggestion? My doctor threw out Ritalin, Focalin, Concerta but could not discuss any of them.
Please, PLEASE, somebody tell me that they switched from Adderall XR to something that is working for them!!!

By: Melanie

Melanie — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:39:03 +0000

When I filled my prescription for DAW (dispense as written) name brand Adderall XR, the pharmacist showed me that all the pills in the name brand bottle were all imprinted with M. Amphet. Salts – just like the generic. She even opened a new bottle, to show me that Walgreens wasn’t trying to screw me over.

I called Shire and they said that the FDA approved Shire imprinting the name brand capsules with either ADERALL XR or M. Amphet. Salts and that as long as my prescription came from a name brand bottle that said “Shire” that I was taking the same name brand drug I’ve been taking all along.
I HIGHLY doubt what I’ve been taking for the past few days is regular name brand Aderall XR. I have been experiencing headaches, tight/clenched upper back muscles, tingling/numbness in my face and pressure behind my eyes. I also feel like I’m on something – I never felt like I was on something when I took name brand Adderall XR before!

I called Shire again and again they told me that as long as my prescription came from a bottle that said “Shire” that I was taking the same name brand drug.

By: Brendan

Brendan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:26:09 +0000

I’m having the same issue as many of these other posts.

I recently bought my three month supply of Adderall XR 20 mg through my health insurance company’s mail order prescription drug program. On the bottle, it read Adderall XR 20 mg, but when I looked at the actual pill, it read “M. Amphet Salts 20 mg.” After some research on the internet, I was suspicious of this, as I thought I was getting the brand Adderall, not a generic (and I’m paying $150 per prescription for the name brand stuff). I went and spoke with the pharmacy at my local CVS and she informed me that the pill I had was the generic, not the brand name form, and I should be paying the generic price for the medication.

I called the mail order place and spoke with one of the pharmacists there. She said that Shire had sent them pills with “M. Amphet Salts 20 mg” printed on the pill, but it was, in fact, the brand form of Adderall XR. She also went on to say that the mail order program did not carry the generic form of Adderall XR. I checked out the mail order pharmacy website, and it listed “amphetamine/dextroamphetamine salts combo TAB 20MG” on its options of alternatives to Adderall XR, which I was under the impression that it is the generic form of Adderall XR.

Should I continue to look into this further? I feel like I’m getting lied to about this and it’s costing me an arm and a leg! Should we work with our local pharmacists toward a resolution? This is frustrating and I feel like there’s nothing we can do to avoid this!

By: Rodrigo

Rodrigo — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:20:58 +0000

The pharmacy wont take back the generics either as they have been told by Shire that generics and the brand XRs are the same. Furthermore, the bottles of brand XR already come in mixed with the salts ones. Seems to me Shire is sabotaging their own med to make us go on that vyvanse garbage. The FDA is corrupt to the core. I filled an online complaint with them, but I am sure nothing will be done.

By: Rodrigo

Rodrigo — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:07:53 +0000

Same thing happened to me. I went to my doc, got a DAW script and the pharmacist gave me a bottle of brand name and generics combined! I am reduced to 1/2 or 1/3 of my true dosage now as i only take the ones labeled ADDERALL XR not the other ones. This should be freakin’ illegal! The generic and brand Adderall XRs are NOT the same medicine. I ended a 3 year relationship after 2 weeks on the generic. I was depressed, constantly exhausted and hopeless to the point that I didnt care what happened with anything. It was NOT psychosomatic since I truly believed the generic was exactly the same as the brand having being given the speech by the pharmacist about Shire making both and all that. It is only when I talked to my doctor about the sudden change in me that we arrived to the true culprit of my emotional downfall! We need a lawsuit or something.

By: Dr. Kenny Handelman

Dr. Kenny Handelman — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 17:35:55 +0000

Hi,
As you can see from the many posts on this blog – there are many people who have a worse response to the generic than the brand name. If the name brand seems better for you – do your best to stick to it!

By: AC

AC — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:36:33 +0000

I have been taking Adderall XR for 2 years. One month ago the pharmacy filled a prescription for “Adderall Xr” with “M. Amphet Salts” without informing me of the switch.

The label on the pill bottle read “Adderall Xr”.

After several weeks of increasing signs of depression. I noticed the capsules in this bottle did not say “Adderall XR” they read “M. Amphet Salts”.

I called the pharmacy who’s tech stated that they had received a memo from Shire stating that it is “ok” to substitute the “M. Amphet Salts” for the “Adderall XR” even if the script reads “do not substitute”

The label also reads Standard Orange Capsule. Side 1 : Adderall XR
Side 2: M. Amphet Salts

The websites I have checked all state that the M. Amphet Salts capsule is generic.

My question is: Is it legal for a pharmacy to substitute a known generic for a name brand without a prescription from a md that says they may substitute?

Is is legal for the pharmacy to not inform the customer of a switch in name brand to generic?

Is it legal to label a bill bottle with the name brand medication when it is not name brand by adding a note in fine print which reads “side 2″ “M. Amphet Salts”? Thank you for your help.

It’s important to note that I was not aware of the medication switch therefore did not know what was causing the depression. A friend of mine asked me “What is wrong with you” My answer was ” I don’t know but I don’t have very good control of my ADD symptoms now” “I don’t know what’s wrong”

By: Rebekah

Rebekah — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:13:24 +0000

I had been taking Adderall XR for two years before I became pregnant. By the time I weaned my child, a generic was available; however, I had a bad reaction and asked to return to the brand. Henceforth, I received the “Dispensed As Written” brand and experienced no problems. Then, months later, I started having symptoms of exhaustion, difficulty focusing, and soon entered a terrible manic state. I called my doctor to request an increase in my low dose (100mg) of Lamotrigine, thinking it would resolve the problem. The day I was going to start the increase, I noticed that the label on what I had assumed was a bottle of Adderall XR read “Amphetamine”. I called the pharmacy to report the error, which they acknowledged, and fingered it as the likely culprit for my altered mood. My doctor also identified it as the cause.

Now, it is important at this point to note that particular fill of of Adderall XR had been split because the pharmacy did not have enough in stock, and I had taken my last dose that day. The first 10 doses of the split were the brand, and it wasn’t until two weeks after I received the remaining doses that I noticed the label read “Amphetamine.”

The remaining generic doses were swapped out for the brand, and my symptoms disappeared soonafter. Later, though, the pharmacy informed me that the brand and generic are both produced by the same manufacturer, Shire, and that their ingredients are identical. I called Shire to confirm this and to ask if the process is also identical for the brand and generic–yes, was their reply. Shire also informed me that they are the only one licensed to manufacture Adderall XR and its generic in the US.

Therefore, I am terribly confused: It’s not like the generic was forced on me, and I then had some psychosomatic reaction. After I discovered the error, I could trace the onset of my problems to when I started taking the generic. If coincidence, why did my symptoms improve shortly after I received the brand? Could mistaking the generic as the cause, and then getting the brand, cure symptoms that were caused by an unrelated source?

In closing, my latest Adderall XR Rx had capsules inside marked “M. Amphet Salts” (I began checking the label and contents after the aforesaid mishap). I thought the pharmacy had made another mistake, but I was told that the FDA approved the use of either imprint on the brand. Though I have been told the drugs are identical, I can’t shake the suspicion that the generic was somehow the cause… But now with the interchangeable imprint, I think I should either request the cheaper generic, if truly identical to the brand, or find a different ADD drug in which I can tell the difference between the brand and generic, despite which one I take.

Dr. Kenny, I would love for you to shed any light on this mystery.
Thanks,
Rebekah

By: Dr. Kenny Handelman

Dr. Kenny Handelman — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 19:57:11 +0000

Rodrigo,
All comments are moderated – i.e. they do not show up on the blog until I review them to ensure that there are no spam or inappropriate comments.
It is not an instant thing – i.e. it can take a few days (I was recently travelling).
Thank you for sharing your experiences with the generics.
Best,
Dr. Kenny