The father of a teenager with ADHD says drug shortages are making life "a nightmare" for some sufferers.
Pharmac has asked doctors to "prioritise" children and adolescents, as it tries to manage the impact of global supply problems with medicines containing methylphenidate, including the brands Ritalin and Concerta.
ADHD New Zealand spokesperson Darrin Bull said his 16-year-old daughter had run out of her usual medication.
"The pharmacist said 'Well, I can dispense this [alternative], but you have to go back to your GP. And the GP is like 'I don't have an appointment for a month'. So this just creates pressure all over."
Bull said Pharmac had made the right call in advising clinicians to put children and teenagers first in the queue.
"It's terrible to say you have to prioritise one part of the community over another, but children can suffer more side-effects to some types of medication, so if they do find something is working, they should stay with it."
Pharmac had done "a good job" of managing the shortages over the last two years, but a survey this month of 600 members of ADHD NZ found many were affected, he said.
"It can be an absolute disaster - people unable to function at work or university, particularly in terms of focus. We've got stories of some people being prescribed antidepressants as an alternative, which is not good.
"Our community are sick of the chopping and changing and they are struggling to stay on top of the constant change. In many cases there is an alternative, but it's not as effective as the one the person was on and they struggle with that."
However, it was vitally important that patients did not "share medication" with others, he warned.
"They are not doctors. We've heard a small percentage of people are doing that, and it just can't happen. Take the advice of doctors and the medical fraternity."
The worldwide shortages were partly the legacy of supply chain disruption since the Covid-19 pandemic, manufacturing problems, and increasing demand for the medicines, particularly from Europe and the United States.
Otago University research had found New Zealand's rate of diagnosis and treatment still lags behind similar countries, Bull said.
