Latest news with #shortage
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Health care shortage hits Kelowna
Health care shortage hits Kelowna Kelowna General Hospital is being forced to shut down its general pediatrics unit.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
Global ADHD drugs shortage has Kiwis worried over potential job loss, survey shows
Photo: 123RF A global shortage of ADHD medication has shown two thirds of people surveyed are concerned about how a global shortage will affect work and schooling. ADHD New Zealand, a registered charity, conducted a survey of 216 diagnosed people, and more than half said they could not get their hands on the drugs they needed. Almost two-thirds said they were unable to perform their jobs properly without the correct medication with around a third worried they might lose their jobs with their workplace performance impacted. Spokesperson Darrin Bull told Nine to Noon the shortage was "a perfect storm", caused by an increase in diagnoses around the world, particularly among women aged 15 to 44 years, and a decrease in production of the medication. He said for many people on medication, the shortage translated into concern about performance at work or university, or their children's behaviour at school. He said the shortage was not expected to improve within the year. Bull said the survey was conducted following worries people might be turning to the black market for medication and wellbeing concerns around stopping or switching medications. Buying medication from other people, including from online marketplaces, was illegal and not recommended, he said. "But what we've found is that's not the go-to for our community, which is really really pleasing," Bull said. "People are talking to their doctors, or they're starting to ration their medication." In the absence of medication, people who would normally rely on it should focus on lifestyle - exercise, sleep, and eating well. "There's also coaching and counselling about, which has really grown," he said. "Even meditation; it all helps to calm the brain. "The worst thing you can do is think there is no help, and that there's nothing I can do. There's lots of options out there." Pharmac said it was working closely with suppliers and clinicians to manage the supply issues. "There may be periods in 2025 where people will not be able to get the brand of methylphenidate they normally use," it said in a statement. "There may also be times where people have to wait for more stock to arrive at their local pharmacy." It said suppliers and wholesalers were limiting the amount of stock going to pharmacies, and doctors had been asked to prioritise children and adolescents for getting methylphenidate as they tended to "tolerate" it better than some of the alternative medicines available for ADHD. Clinicians should consider prescribing other brands of methylphenidate or other types of medicines for people with ADHD or narcolepsy where possible. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
20-05-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
ADHD advocates on global shortage of medication
Photo: 123RF A global shortage of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication is causing concern here, according to a survey conducted by an ADHD charity. Multiple ADHD medicines are affected including methylphenidate and ritalin - with no consistency around what runs out, meaning people are being forced to wait for their preffered brand or wait. ADHD NZ's spokesperson Darrin Bull speaks with Kathryn.
Times
20-05-2025
- Business
- Times
Japan raids its emergency rice stocks amid anger over prices
Japan will release hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rice from emergency stockpiles as anger grows over shortages causing big price rises. Tokyo said it would raid its rice banks in July to put an extra 300,000 tonnes in shops which are running out of the country's basic food. An extra 200,000 tonnes was released in March, but distribution bottlenecks mean prices have not dropped and stores said they are struggling to meet demand. Some schools have cut back on serving rice with lunch, concerned that they will no longer be able to afford it. People have begun hoarding rice, and the analyst Shunsuke Orikasa, of the Distribution Economics Institute of Japan, told the public broadcaster NHK that shoppers must stop panic-buying. At one supermarket
ABC News
15-05-2025
- Health
- ABC News
Hunger Games battle for ADHD medication reaches peak in Canberra
A global shortage of ADHD medications is forcing doctors to get creative and pushing pharmacists into a "Hunger Games" style battle to secure supply.
