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Tool · FDA shortage list · read October 2026

How long do drug shortages like your medicine's last?

Half of FDA-listed drug shortages end within 21 months, and listings that had already run three years were still listed a year later 84% of the time, against 61% for listings that had run one year. Type a medicine to see how long it has been listed, every earlier listing, and what past listings of the same age did. It covers 392 drugs listed since 2014. Counts of listings, never a forecast.

Try one

Example result. Open Mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall generics) as its own page

Mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall generics)on the FDA shortage list now
48months listed

Mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall generics) has been on the FDA shortage list for 4 years (November 2022 to October 2026).

  1. 79 of the 397 listings measured since 2014 lasted at least that long.
  2. Of the 79 past listings that reached the same age, 85% were still listed 6 months later (63 listings measured), 77% were still listed 12 months later (52 listings measured) and 55% were still listed 24 months later (33 listings measured).
  3. Mixed amphetamine salts (Adderall generics) has been listed 2 times since 2014: earlier listings lasted 2 years and 8 months.
  4. None of this predicts an end date. A listing ends when the FDA removes it, which reflects supply across the whole country, and says nothing about one pharmacy's shelf.

The listing history, to scale

  1. Amphetamine Aspartate; Amphetamine Sulfate; Dextroamphetamine Saccharate; Dextroamphetamine...Listed October 2019 to May 2022 · 2 years and 8 months
  2. Amphetamine Aspartate Monohydrate, Amphetamine Sulfate, Dextroamphetamine Saccharate...Listed since November 2022 · 4 years

What past listings of this age did

Of past listings that had already run 4 years, how many were still listed later?

After 6 more months85%63 listings measured
After 12 more months77%52 listings measured
After 24 more months55%33 listings measured

What the FDA list says about it today

73presentations listed
11companies
12 October 2022first posted

Reasons companies gave: shortage of an active ingredient (24), other (6) and demand increase for the drug (3); 40 of 73 gave none. FDA category: Psychiatry.

Company by company

Of 73 presentations, the companies reported 40 available, 14 with limited availability and 19 unavailable. This is each company's own report to the FDA, with the date of its last update.

What DEA sets for it each year

DEA aggregate production quota, the two amphetamine quotas that feed mixed salts

D,L-amphetamine

  • 202121,200 kg
  • 202221,200 kg
  • 202321,200 kg
  • 202421,200 kg
  • 202521,200 kg
  • 2026established24,234 kg
  • 2026adjusted 10 Nov31,655 kg

D-amphetamine (for sale)

  • 202121,200 kg
  • 202221,200 kg
  • 202321,200 kg
  • 202421,200 kg
  • 202526,450 kg
  • 2026established26,450 kg
  • 2026adjusted 10 Nov37,108 kg

Kilograms of anhydrous acid or base, from the DEA table dated 13 March 2026 and, for the 2026 adjustment, Federal Register order 2026-22842 (signed 4 November, effective 10 November 2026). A quota is a yearly national ceiling on manufacturing; it is not a measure of stock.

FDA shortage list read October 2026 (monthly archived copies since 2014, rebuilt in the published dataset; current listing file read 11 November 2026); DEA quota table dated 13 March 2026 and the Federal Register order of 10 November 2026. Listing is the FDA's status, not a statement about any pharmacy.

Compiled and checked by Vincent Wesley Couey (ORCID 0009-0005-6869-308X) from monthly archived copies of the FDA drug shortages database, read October 2026, and the FDA's current listing file, read 11 November 2026.

Not medical advice. A listing is what the FDA published, not a measure of what your pharmacy can supply. Do not use this page to decide whether to start, stop or change a medicine. Ask your pharmacist or prescriber, and see FDA drug shortage information for current notices.

How do you read the outlook for one medicine?

You read the outlook for one medicine as an age and a record, not a date.

  1. Find the months listed. The clock starts the first month the FDA listed the medicine as in shortage.
  2. Read the listing history. A medicine can leave the list and return; each listing is drawn separately, to scale.
  3. Read what past listings of that age did, with the number of listings behind each share. Shares with fewer than 30 listings behind them are not shown.
  4. Read the FDA's own detail: presentations, companies and the reasons companies gave, when it states one.
  5. Take the result to your pharmacist. A listing is national supply status, not what one shelf holds.

What does the shortage list show for the stimulant medicines?

The shortage list shows the stimulant medicines as the longest-running group on it. The mixed amphetamine salts tablet has been listed 4 years since November 2022, and the DEA raised its 2026 production quotas for amphetamine and methylphenidate on 10 November.

See the stimulants page: the FDA list history beside the DEA's yearly quota, from the DEA's own table and Federal Register order.

Which drugs have been on the FDA shortage list the longest?

61 drugs are on the FDA shortage list in October 2026. The figure beside each name is the months it has been listed, longest first; each name opens its own result.

What is the most common way to misread a shortage listing?

The most common misreading takes a long listing as a prediction. A past listing that lasted three years says what happened to that listing, not what will happen to this one.

The misreading

"It has been listed for four years, so it must be about to end."

The fix

Read the share of past listings that were still listed a year later, with the count behind it, and ask your pharmacist what can be supplied now. The FDA explains how it works on shortages in the FDA's frequently asked questions about drug shortages.

Can you put this lookup on your own site?

Any drug can be shown on another site as a self-sizing panel, free with the source line left in place.

<div data-shortage-outlook data-drug="mixed-amphetamine-salts"></div> <script async src="https://omnirx.org/tools/shortage-outlook/embed.js"></script>

Set data-drug to the drug's key, the last part of its result address. The full tables are in the shortage length dataset (doi:10.5281/zenodo.24144166).

How was the outlook built and checked?

The outlook was built from the published shortage dataset and two other public records. The dataset rebuilds each shortage from monthly archived copies of the FDA list (the Internet Archive Wayback Machine). The FDA's current listing file adds presentations, companies and stated reasons. For controlled substances, the DEA's own quota table and Federal Register order add the yearly production quota. The reasons the DEA gives are reported as the DEA states them.

The same code produces the result on this page, on each drug's page and in the embed. Further reading: the FDA's drug shortage reports to Congress; 21 U.S.C. 356c, the statute that requires manufacturers to notify the FDA; the manufacturer notification rule; openFDA drug shortages; ASHP's drug shortage list, a separate list kept by pharmacists; the DEA's quota page.

Questions

How do I see how long my medicine has been in shortage?

Type the brand or the generic name into the lookup. The result shows when the FDA first listed it, how many months it has been listed, every earlier listing, and what the FDA list says about it today. It covers 392 drugs that have been on the list since 2014.

Does this predict when a shortage will end?

No. It shows what past listings of the same age did: the share that were still listed 6, 12 and 24 months later, with the number of listings behind each share. A shortage ends when the FDA removes it, which depends on supply across the whole country, and no past pattern fixes that date.

Why does the lookup say a drug was listed more than once?

A drug can leave the FDA list and return. The lookup shows each listing separately, with the months between them, so a short gap is not hidden. Where the FDA renamed an entry without a break in the list, the two names are joined as one listing.

What does it mean when the FDA lists the same drug under two names?

Entries are sometimes retitled, for example when an active ingredient name is written differently. The dataset joins a rename that happens in the same month. Some families, like mixed amphetamine salts, were also listed again after a gap of several months, and those appear as two listings under one drug.

Is a listed drug unavailable at my pharmacy?

Not necessarily. The FDA list records national supply problems that manufacturers report. A pharmacy may still stock the medicine, or another presentation, and a drug not on the list can still be hard to find locally. Your pharmacist can check what is available.

Why does the stimulants page mention the DEA?

Amphetamine and methylphenidate products are controlled substances, and the DEA sets a national production quota each year. The page sets the yearly quota beside months on the FDA list, using the DEA's own table and Federal Register order, and reports the reasons the DEA itself gave.

Can I put this lookup on another website?

Yes. The embed code on this page shows any drug as a self-sizing panel, free to use with the source line left in place. The underlying dataset is published under a Creative Commons Attribution licence.