Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer demands he get Adderall for ADHD in jail

Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team is asking a U.S. district court judge to grant the former FTX CEO “uninterrupted access” to his daily prescribed medication while he is in jail. That includes Adderall for treatment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

“For over five years Mr. Bankman-Fried has been prescribed Emsam 9mg/24 hrs transdermal patch for the treatment of depression,” Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, wrote in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan on Monday. “And for the past three years, Mr. Bankman-Fried has been prescribed Adderall 10mg tablets, 3-4x/day for the treatment of ADHD.”

On Friday, Judge Kaplan sided with a request by federal prosecutors to revoke Bankman-Fried’s bail over alleged witness tampering. Bankman-Fried was remanded to custody directly from a court hearing in New York and sent to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), Bureau of Prisons records show.

Unless an appeal filed by the defendant’s legal team is successful, Bankman-Fried is expected to remain in custody until his criminal trial, which is due to begin on Oct. 2.

The latest request from Bankman-Fried’s lawyers includes a letter from his psychiatrist, George Lerner, who has been treating the former FTX CEO since Feb. 2019.

“Mr. Bankman-Fried has a history of Major Depressive Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder,” Lerner wrote.

ADHD is among the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

Lerner added that Bankman-Fried had tried other antidepressants but said they were ineffective for his symptoms.

“Additionally, there have been times when Mr. Bankman-Fried did not have access to the Emsam patch (typically when travelling/abroad) and exhibited symptoms of depression, including lethargy, anhedonia, low motivation, and increased ruminations,” Lerner wrote.

Without his medication, Lerner warned the judge that “Bankman-Fried will experience a return of his depression and ADHD symptoms and will be severely negatively impacted in his ability to assist in his own defense.”

Cohen said Bankman-Fried was only able to bring a “small supply” of his daily medication when he was remanded to custody on Friday — a supply apparently only sufficient to last him a few days.

“We respectfully ask that the Court promptly enter an order directing MDC to ensure that our client has continuous access to the specific medications and dosages that are described in Dr. Lerner’s letter,” wrote Cohen.

For nearly a year, there has been a nationwide shortage of Adderall, the popular stimulant used to treat ADHD. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has called on drug manufacturers to up production.

— CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.

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