Drug data · Schedule II · shortage, price, volume

Methylphenidate extended-release tablets: 39 months on the FDA shortage list while the generic benchmark price fell 34% since 2021

The FDA says supply is short. The pharmacy benchmark says the generic tablet now costs $0.719 each, against $4.74 in 2013. Both are true, and they measure different things: availability on one side, the average price pharmacies pay on the other.

FDA shortage list, 2026-10-27NADAC, October 2026Medicaid SDUDinferred monthno data

The ER tablet has been on the FDA list continuously since August 2023, 39 months.
Only 26% of shortage listings since 2014 have lasted this long. The median listing lasts 20 months.
A generic 27 mg tablet costs pharmacies $0.719 on the NADAC benchmark in October 2026, 34% below its 2021 median.
The brand Concerta tablet is $11.39 each, about 16 times the generic.
Medicaid paid for 770,159 ER tablet prescriptions in Q4 2025, 26% more than in Q4 2021. Fills rose across a stretch in which the ER tablet was listed as short in 39 of 39 months.
The FDA also lists the topical (since September 2025).

Not medical advice. This page reports public records about supply and pharmacy cost. Ask a pharmacist or prescriber about your own medication.

Three clocks on one timeline

Each lane uses the same monthly axis, so you can read across: when the FDA listed the ER tablet, what pharmacies were paying, and how many Medicaid prescriptions were filled.

on the listinferred across a missing captureno capture or no price$ per tabletprescriptionspreliminary quarter

Swipe the chart sideways to see all 14 years.

Top: months the ER tablet name was on the FDA list (Wayback captures of the FDA page; the current FDA record says posted 2023-07-26). Middle: NADAC per tablet, one line per strength. Bottom: Medicaid prescriptions per quarter. Medicaid volume: 250,269 rows pulled for this drug, 83,584 (33%) suppressed by CMS for small cells and left out, never counted as zero, so every bar is a floor; state XX national rows excluded; the hatched latest quarter is preliminary. Fills also move with Medicaid enrollment, so a change is not by itself evidence of a shortage.

How long do shortages last?

Each step is a drop in the share of FDA shortage listings still running. The dot is this drug.

Kaplan-Meier on 430 listings, 2014 to 2026, by ingredient. 18 months have no capture and are bridged by inference.

What a pharmacy pays per unit

NADAC is the average price retail pharmacies pay, per tablet.

Thirty generic 27 mg extended-release tablets is about $21.56 at this benchmark. It is acquisition cost, not a retail price.

Which forms are short

FDA listing by dosage form
Form	Listed now	Months listed	FDA records (2026-10-27)
ER tablet	Yes, since August 2023	39	2 unavailable, 9 limited availability, 19 available (30 records)
topical	Yes, since September 2025	14	4 available (4 records)
tablet	No (last listed December 2014)	6	none
ER capsule	No (last listed January 2016)	18	none
oral liquid	No (last listed October 2020)	33	none
chewable tablet	No (last listed August 2019)	19	none
capsule	No	0	none
ODT	No	0	none

Price by strength

ER tablet: generic acquisition cost per tablet by strength
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	NDCs
10 mg	$0.455	$0.576	$1.142013-11	-21%	3
18 mg	$0.610	$1.01	$4.842013-11	-40%	6
20 mg	$0.510	$0.841	$1.632013-11	-39%	3
27 mg	$0.719	$1.09	$4.742013-11	-34%	7
36 mg	$0.689	$1.25	$4.712013-11	-45%	7
54 mg	$0.822	$1.34	$5.262013-11	-38%	7
72 mg	$16.09	$18.29	$16.692019-12	-12%	3

ER tablet: brand (Concerta) acquisition cost per tablet by strength
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	NDCs
18 mg	$10.94	$11.57	$6.832013-11	-5%	3
27 mg	$11.39	$11.82	$6.942013-11	-4%	3
36 mg	$11.87	$12.24	$7.232013-11	-3%	3
54 mg	$12.78	$13.31	$7.752013-11	-4%	3

Capsule: generic acquisition cost per capsule by strength (not on the FDA list)
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	NDCs
10 mg	$1.52	$1.47	$2.692019-04	+4%	1 (single product, not a median)
20 mg	$1.46	$1.37	$2.492019-04	+7%	1 (single product, not a median)
30 mg	$1.81	$1.47	$3.062019-04	+23%	1 (single product, not a median)
40 mg	$1.62	$2.05	$4.032019-04	-21%	1 (single product, not a median)
50 mg	$1.73	$2.33	$3.872019-04	-26%	1 (single product, not a median)
60 mg	$1.89	$2.38	$4.482019-04	-21%	1 (single product, not a median)

Oral liquid: generic acquisition cost per mL by strength
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	History	NDCs
1 mg/mL	$0.080	$0.122	$0.6612017-12	-35%		3
2 mg/mL	$0.116	$0.162	$0.8202017-11	-29%		3

Chewable tablet: generic acquisition cost per tablet by strength
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	History	NDCs
2.5 mg	$1.31	n/a	$2.422019-03	n/a	6-month gap in NADAC reporting	2
5 mg	$1.99	$3.09	$3.392018-11	-36%		2
10 mg	$2.90	$3.70	$4.162020-10	-22%		2

Tablet: generic acquisition cost per tablet by strength
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	NDCs
5 mg	$0.122	$0.115	$0.5262013-11	+6%	11
10 mg	$0.150	$0.164	$0.7462013-11	-9%	11
20 mg	$0.199	$0.205	$1.062013-11	-3%	9

ER capsule: generic acquisition cost per capsule by strength
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	NDCs
10 mg	$2.35	$1.47	$2.962017-05	+60%	5
20 mg	$1.62	$1.44	$4.222016-01	+12%	6
30 mg	$1.72	$1.40	$4.552016-01	+23%	6
40 mg	$1.77	$1.82	$4.822016-01	-3%	6
50 mg	$1.73	$2.33	$4.672017-05	-26%	2
60 mg	$5.96	$2.38	$5.362017-05	+151%	4

Topical: generic acquisition cost per item by strength
Strength	Now	2021 median	First month	Now vs 2021	NDCs
10 mg	$6.30	n/a	$10.852023-10	n/a	4
15 mg	$6.27	n/a	$12.832023-03	n/a	4
20 mg	$6.16	n/a	$11.512023-07	n/a	4
30 mg	$6.61	n/a	$12.982023-02	n/a	4

Read the price with care. NADAC is a national survey average of retail pharmacy invoices. It is not a quote, not what any patient paid, and it excludes discounts and rebates. A flat or falling benchmark during a shortage means pharmacies' average invoice cost did not rise, not that every patient could find the drug at that price.

FDA caution. The FDA drug shortage list is updated as manufacturers report and should not be relied on for medical care. Ask a pharmacist or prescriber about supply.

Questions

Is Methylphenidate still in shortage?

On the FDA list as of 2026-10-27, the ER tablet is listed under 30 presentations: 2 unavailable, 9 with limited availability and 19 available. It has been continuously listed since August 2023. FDA says not to rely on the list for medical care; ask a pharmacist.

Did the shortage raise the pharmacy price?

Not in the benchmark. The NADAC survey average for a generic 27 mg tablet is $0.719 in October 2026, 34% below its 2021 median and 85% below November 2013. NADAC is a national average of retail pharmacy invoices, so it measures what pharmacies pay on average, not what any one patient was charged.

Did Medicaid fills fall during the shortage?

No. CMS State Drug Utilization Data shows 770,159 Medicaid-paid ER tablet prescriptions in Q4 2025, 26% more than in Q4 2021 (610,693). Those counts are a floor because CMS suppresses small cells, they cover Medicaid only and move with Medicaid enrollment, and they count prescriptions that were filled, not demand that went unmet. A change in fills is not by itself evidence of a shortage.

What does a pharmacy pay for 30 generic 27 mg extended-release tablets?

About $21.56 on the NADAC benchmark ($0.719 per tablet times 30). That is acquisition cost, not a retail price: it excludes dispensing fees, discounts and rebates.

Cite this page

Figures are calculated from U.S. federal sources (see Data terms below) and rebuilt from dated snapshots. Cite it as:

OmniRx, "Methylphenidate: FDA shortage, NADAC acquisition cost and Medicaid utilization", data as of October 2026. https://omnirx.org/drugs/methylphenidate

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Sources

FDA Drug Shortages list and the openFDA drug shortages API, snapshot 2026-10-27.
Internet Archive captures of the FDA list page, 2014 to 2026, for monthly history (18 months have no usable capture).
CMS NADAC weekly acquisition cost datasets, 2013 to 2026 (one dataset per year on data.medicaid.gov). Brand and generic follow CMS's own classification for rate setting.
CMS State Drug Utilization Data, 2013 to 2026.
openFDA NDC directory for identifiers.

Data terms. Every source above is published by a U.S. federal agency (CMS or FDA). CMS's data site labels its datasets inconsistently: of the 14 NADAC years, 5 carry the "public domain" label and 9 the "U.S. government works" label; of the 14 State Drug Utilization Data years, 6 carry the "public domain" label and 8 the "U.S. government works" label. We record each dataset's label verbatim and cite the source for every figure. Figures on this page are OmniRx calculations from those datasets, not statements by CMS or FDA, and no agency endorses this page.