​​Adult Adderall Prescriptions Outnumber Formal Diagnoses

The number of Adderall prescriptions has spiked for Millennial patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, Adderall prescriptions for adults ages 22 to 44, have jumped by 15.1% from Q2 2020 to Q2 2021. That’s according to a new report by Trilliant Health, which shed light on the use of Adderall, a stimulant used to treat ADHD, during the pandemic. This sharp increase in Adderall prescriptions was not true for other demographics.

Prescriptions for Adderall in adults over 45 have remained relatively stable year-over-year, according to the report. Meanwhile pediatric prescriptions have stabilized at below pre-pandemic levels. 

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Trilliant Health reports that the number of adults receiving an Adderall prescription outnumbers formal ADHD diagnoses. 

At the start of the pandemic, the Drug Enforcement Administration temporarily stopped enforcing the law that requires health care providers to see patients in person before prescribing controlled substances.

This opened the door for all virtual-only providers to prescribe drugs such as Adderall and Xanax. This enforcement pause is still in effect.

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“In hindsight, it is clear that the emergence of digital mental health platforms enabled significant increases in prescribing, particularly for the Millennial generation,” the report’s author Sanjula Jain, wrote. “Notably, there are more adults receiving prescription Adderall than there are with a formal ADHD diagnosis. This discrepancy likely speaks to the number of individuals using a direct-to-consumer, self-pay service in this clinical scenario.”

New York-based unicorn Cerebral became a poster child for digital health companies prescribing Adderall. However, in recent months the company has faced public scrutiny and an ongoing federal investigation regarding its prescribing practice.

In May the company announced that it would no longer prescribe ADHD medications to new patients and end prescribing to existing patients in the fall. 

“Due to a confluence of events, the standard approach to the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD was undeniably altered during the pandemic,” Jain wrote in the report. “As more evidence becomes available, it is more than likely similar trends will reveal themselves across a variety of clinical scenarios.”

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