Adderall shortage: we called 10 South Florida pharmacies, and every one that answered was out

A call4me user with a prescription for Adderall 30 mg had their AI phone assistant call 10 pharmacies in Miami-Dade and Broward on one morning. Five answered the question, and all five said no. Here's what each one said, all 11 recordings, and what to do next.

Nick Khami · October 1, 2026 · 21 min read

The short answer: the Adderall shortage is still real where we checked. On the morning of October 1, 2026, a call4me user's AI phone assistant called 10 pharmacies in Miami-Dade and Broward counties about Adderall 30 mg, immediate release (IR) or extended release (XR), brand or generic, for a 30-day supply. Five pharmacies answered the question, and all five said they didn't have it. One independent pharmacy said every Adderall product is on back order from its wholesaler, that it is "cut off until further notice," and that it is "estimating about a year." At the other five pharmacies, the call ended before anyone answered the question.

What the five answers had in common:

1. A flat no. Nobody offered a partial quantity or a different strength. (Our caller didn't ask about other strengths. More on that below.)
2. No restock date. Nobody had one. The one pharmacy that guessed said its wholesaler gives it no date.
3. No referral. Of the four pharmacies we asked, none knew of another pharmacy nearby that had it. One pharmacist said, "I'm pretty sure every other place is in the same boat."
4. One real lead: the same pharmacist suggested calling the mail-order pharmacy or member services number on your insurance plan, because "mail order facility rules are different from retail pharmacies."

These calls were made on Thursday, October 1, 2026, between 9:36 and 10:32 am Eastern, by a call4me user who has a prescription and was checking stock. Our caller only asked about stock: it didn't fill, transfer or reserve anything, and it didn't give a date of birth, address or insurance details. The user is okay with us sharing the calls. We've left the pharmacies unnamed. Each pharmacy's name and address, the user's name and the staff names are muted in the audio and shown in brackets in the transcripts. Stretches of dead air longer than about 3 seconds are shortened to about 1 second, and each cut is marked in the transcript. Stock is what each pharmacy said on that date, and it can change any day.

Is there still an Adderall shortage in 2026? #

As of October 1, 2026, yes, by the FDA's own list. The FDA Drug Shortages database lists the mixed amphetamine salts tablet, the ingredients in Adderall and its generics, as "Currently in Shortage," first posted on October 12, 2022. Its detail page lists each manufacturer, by strength, as available, limited or unavailable, and most makers were reverified in September 2026. The American Society of Health-System Pharmacists keeps its own Adderall shortage entry, written for pharmacists.

Those lists tell you what manufacturers report. They don't tell you what's on the shelf at the pharmacy down the street. That's what these calls are.

A one-morning Adderall shortage map of South Florida #

All times Eastern, Thursday, October 1, 2026. The question was Adderall 30 mg, IR tablets or XR capsules, brand or generic, for a 30-day supply (quantity 60). Pharmacies are numbered in the order we first called them.

Ten pharmacies, eleven calls, and not one "yes." Five pharmacies said no to the question. Four hung up without answering: the provider's call records say the pharmacy's side ended each of those calls. The recordings don't say why. We're not counting those four as out of stock, because none of them said so.

Adderall XR shortage: what they said about XR #

Four of the five pharmacies that answered were asked about both the IR tablets and the XR capsules in the same question, and all four said no:

• Pharmacy 3 (hospital outpatient): "No, we don't," to "Adderall 30 milligram instant release tablets, or the XR capsules."
• Pharmacy 4 (independent): out of stock, to "IR tablets or XR capsules, brand or generic."
• Pharmacy 6 (local chain): "No," to "IR tablets or XR capsules, brand or generic," quantity 60.
• Pharmacy 9 (compounding): "Every single Adderall is on back order," to "IR or XR."

Pharmacy 2 was asked about "Adderall 30 milligram" without IR or XR, and said no.

Listen: Pharmacy 9, "cut off until further notice" (3 minutes 25 seconds) #

• 0:24 An automated assistant answers
• 0:55 "I wasn't able to locate your information from the phone number you're currently using, and am unable to help with checking Adderall 30 milligrams availability." It offers to transfer
• 1:46 A pharmacy staff member picks up
• 1:57 "No, every single Adderall is on back order from the wholesaler, and more so, we cannot order the whole class"
• 2:06 "We are cut off until further notice"
• 2:16 "The wholesalers do not provide us that information. They unilaterally take the decision and that's it"
• 2:25 "We are estimating about a year"
• 2:36 "I'm pretty sure every other place is in the same boat"
• 2:58 "I do, however, have a suggestion." At 3:01: "If he has insurance, call the mail order facility or the member services number"
• 3:14 "Mail order facility rules are different from retail pharmacies, so maybe there he has better luck"

"About a year" is this one pharmacy's own estimate of when its wholesaler might let it order again. It's not an official date for the shortage, and the pharmacy said its wholesaler doesn't give it one.

Listen: Pharmacy 3, no restock date (1 minute 43 seconds) #

• 0:01 The phone menu (the pharmacy's name is muted)
• 0:36 Our caller presses 3 for pharmacy staff
• 0:37 "Please provide your date of birth." Our caller enters nothing, and the call goes to hold anyway
• 0:55 "Your estimated wait time is less than five minutes"
• 1:04 A staff member answers (the greeting is muted)
• 1:07 The question: "Adderall 30 milligram instant release tablets, or the XR capsules"
• 1:19 "No, we don't"
• 1:21 When might either one be back in stock? At 1:25: "No"
• 1:27 Another pharmacy nearby? At 1:33: "No, I don't know"

Listen: Pharmacy 4, "on a back order" (39 seconds) #

• 0:02 The question: IR tablets or XR capsules, brand or generic, for a 30-day supply
• 0:14 "No, unfortunately... out of stock"
• 0:27 "Oh, it's on a back order. I'm not familiar with any other pharmacy that may have it"
• 0:32 Our caller asks again for a pharmacy to try, and the pharmacy hangs up at 0:38

Listen: Pharmacy 6, a local chain (46 seconds) #

• 0:02 The greeting (muted: it names the pharmacy and the staff member)
• 0:04 The question, ending with "for a 30-day supply? That's quantity 60"
• 0:18 "No"
• 0:21 "Do you have a sense of when you might restock either of those?" At 0:26: "No, I do not"
• 0:28 A pharmacy nearby that might have it? At 0:37: "No, I do not"

Listen: Pharmacy 2, a hospital pharmacy (1 minute 46 seconds) #

• 0:11 A recorded message about the pharmacy's move to a new location (the name and location details are muted)
• 0:46 The phone menu. Our caller waits on the line for staff
• 1:14 "Please hold while your call is transferred"
• 1:26 A staff member answers
• 1:29 "Do you currently have Adderall 30 milligram in stock for a 30-day supply, so quantity 60?"
• 1:38 "No"
• 1:40 Our caller says "Okay. Not at all," then goodbyes, and the call ends at 1:46 with no restock or referral question

Listen: the calls that didn't get an answer #

Six calls ended before anyone answered the question. Here's each one.

Pharmacy 1, call 1: hung up mid-question (10 seconds) #

• 0:01 Someone answers (the pharmacy's name is muted)
• 0:03 Our caller starts the question
• 0:10 The pharmacy hangs up mid-sentence

Pharmacy 1, call 2: hung up again (6 seconds) #

• 0:01 Someone answers (the pharmacy's name is muted)
• 0:03 Our caller introduces itself, and the pharmacy hangs up at 0:06

Pharmacy 5: heard the question, then silence (55 seconds) #

• 0:00 The phone menu (the name, the address and one menu option are muted)
• 0:21 Our caller picks the pharmacist option and waits on hold
• 0:39 "Pharmacy, how can I help you?"
• 0:40 A voice on the pharmacy's end: "AI is taking notes"
• 0:42 The full question: IR tablets or XR capsules, brand or generic, for a 30-day supply
• 0:54 Silence, then the pharmacy hangs up

Pharmacy 7: hung up mid-question (18 seconds) #

• 0:04 "Hi, hello?"
• 0:11 The pharmacy answers (the greeting is muted: it names the pharmacy and the staff member)
• 0:15 Our caller starts the question, and the pharmacy hangs up at 0:18

Pharmacy 8: hung up mid-question (11 seconds) #

• 0:00 The pharmacy answers (the greeting is muted: it names the pharmacy and the staff member)
• 0:05 "Are you the pharmacist?"
• 0:07 Our caller starts the question, and the pharmacy hangs up at 0:10

Pharmacy 10: our side dropped the call (51 seconds) #

• 0:01 The phone menu (the pharmacy's name is muted)
• 0:26 Our caller presses 2 for staff and holds while a repeating tone plays
• 0:40 "Good morning, pharmacy, may I help you?"
• 0:42 Our caller starts the question, and our side ends the call at 0:51

When will the Adderall shortage end? #

Nobody we called knew. Three pharmacies were asked directly when they'd get more, and all three said they didn't know. Pharmacy 4 called it a back order. Pharmacy 9 said its wholesalers "do not provide us that information," and that its own guess was "about a year."

The FDA doesn't publish a single end date either. Its detail page shows availability one manufacturer and one strength at a time. If you want to know whether things are improving, that page and the ASHP entry are the places to check, not a pharmacy's guess.

What to do if your pharmacy is out of Adderall #

1. Call before you drive. A stock check took under a minute at every pharmacy that answered. Ask for the exact strength and form on your prescription, and say "IR or XR" out loud: they're different products.
2. Ask about the quantity, not just the drug. "Do you have enough for a 30-day supply, quantity 60?" A pharmacy can have some and still not have enough to fill it.
3. Ask when they expect more, and whether they know a pharmacy that has it. Nobody had an answer for us, but it costs one sentence.
4. Call your insurance plan's mail-order pharmacy or member services. That was Pharmacy 9's suggestion: "Mail order facility rules are different from retail pharmacies." The number is usually on your insurance card.
5. Talk to your prescriber. If the strength or form on your prescription isn't anywhere you call, your prescriber is the one who decides whether a different strength, a different form, or a different medication makes sense for you, and can send a new prescription to a pharmacy that has it in stock. Don't change how you take it on your own.
6. Check the FDA shortage list to see which manufacturers report the strength as available, and mention it to your pharmacist or prescriber.
7. Expect to be asked who you are. Pharmacy 9's automated assistant wouldn't check stock for a phone number it didn't recognize, and Pharmacy 3's phone menu asked for a date of birth (pressing nothing still got us to a person). Some pharmacies hung up before the question was finished.

Where our caller fell short #

• It never asked about other strengths or forms. Every pharmacy was asked about 30 mg only. "Do you have any other strength of Adderall in stock?" would have given the user something to take to their prescriber.
• At Pharmacy 2, it didn't say IR or XR, and after the "No" it said goodbye without asking about a restock date or another pharmacy, even though its instructions said to.
• At Pharmacy 10, a person answered after about a minute of menu and hold, our caller asked the question, and then our side ended the call mid-sentence. The call records show the call4me side hung up, not the pharmacy. We're looking into why. We don't count Pharmacy 10 as out of stock.
• Its opener was long. "This is [name]'s assistant. I'm just checking whether Adderall 30 milligram IR tablets or XR capsules, brand or generic..." Three pharmacies hung up while it was still talking, one of them twice. We can't tell from the recordings whether a shorter question would have kept them on the line.

What to say: a script that worked #

Hi, I'm calling to check if you have Adderall [strength], [IR tablets or XR capsules], brand or generic, in stock for a 30-day supply. That's quantity [number].

If they say no: "Do you know when you might get more in? Do you have any other strength in stock? Is there another pharmacy nearby you'd suggest I try?"

Let an AI phone assistant make the calls #

These calls were made by call4me, an AI phone assistant that works inside the agent you already use (Claude Code, Codex, ChatGPT). You tell your agent what to get done. It calls and talks to the pharmacy like a person would, sits through the phone menus and holds, and reports back with the outcome and the transcript. These 11 calls to 10 pharmacies took under an hour.

If you use call4me, paste this into your agent:

Call [pharmacies and phone numbers] and ask whether they have [medication, strength, IR or XR, brand or generic] in stock for a [30-day supply, quantity]. If they don't, ask when they expect more, whether they have any other strength or form in stock, and whether they know a pharmacy nearby that has it. Don't fill, transfer or reserve anything, and don't give my date of birth, address or insurance details. Put the answers in one table.

adderall shortage · adhd medication · pharmacy · prescriptions · ai phone assistant