The stimulant boxed warning was rewritten in 2023
Most people who misuse these medications get them from a family member or a friend, not a dealer.
Top of the evidence hierarchy, independently funded. how we score evidence
In May 2023 the FDA required the boxed warning on the entire prescription stimulant class — amphetamines and methylphenidates both — to be updated. The specific gap it was closing is unusual and worth knowing: the old labels did not adequately say that most people who misuse these medications get them from a family member or a peer, and that sharing them can cause a substance use disorder in the person you share them with.
This was an update to a warning that already existed, not a new alarm about the medication working. Stimulants remain first-line treatment for ADHD.
Worth asking
How should I be storing this, how do we dispose of what I do not use, and how will we monitor whether my dose is still right over time.
Source
FDA updating warnings to improve safe use of prescription stimulants used to treat ADHD and other conditions — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2023)
Regulator or national health body
How this was scored
- Study design
- Regulatory safety determination
- Funding
- No external funding
- Published in
- Regulator or national health body
- Sample size
- not recorded
- Preregistered
- No
- Conflicts disclosed
- Yes
- Independent of proponent
- Yes
- Retracted
- No
Read the full scoring rubric, including what it can't tell you.
Published August 5, 2026. Last verified August 19, 2026.
Questions
How strong is the evidence behind this?
Resolv rates this source "gold standard". Top of the evidence hierarchy, independently funded. It scores 86 out of 100 on our published rubric. The score is calculated from recorded facts about the source — study design, funding, publication venue, sample size, preregistration — not typed in by an editor.
What is the source for this?
FDA updating warnings to improve safe use of prescription stimulants used to treat ADHD and other conditions — U.S. Food and Drug Administration (2023). Published in: Regulator or national health body. The full source is linked on this page so you can read it yourself.
Who paid for this research, and does that matter?
Study design: Regulatory safety determination. Funding: No external funding. The researchers were independent of whoever benefits from the result. Industry sponsorship is one of the most reliably measured biases in medicine, which is why funding carries real weight in the score rather than sitting in a footnote.
Is stimulant FDA approved?
Yes — this medication carries FDA approval. Approval is always for a specific indication, not for every use it is prescribed for.
Is this medical advice?
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.
This is information to bring to your prescriber, not medical advice and not a reason to change anything on your own. Nothing here is an instruction to stop or reduce a medication. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.