Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers say he needs more Adderall to concentrate in court
Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers say he needs more Adderall to concentrate in court
As someone with ADHD, the fact that he’s trying to weaponize his condition in a legal setting is a little bit infuriating.
Is this really weaponised, though? His prescription is for 3-4 tablets a day, it sounds like he's getting one in the morning then that's it until the end of the working day in court. Based on his lawyer's request, he probably can't take it in court, so they're asking for a long release tablet that will get him through the day.
It's no good him getting a regular tablet at 8am if his case isn't actually heard until after 12.
Literally all of what you just recited should be a discussion between him and his doctor. Doctors can and will have urgent consultations with patients, and one of the outcomes of those consultations can be “we’re switching to this new drug tomorrow”.
Neither judges nor lawyers can prescribe medication. No pharmacist in the US will fill a prescription without a doctor’s order - which they WILL check for schedule 2 substances (and these medications are generally schedule 2 substances).
This is 100% theatrics, which is where the vast majority of my ire on this topic is coming from.
Since you mentioned you have ADHD, can you answer a related question?
How do you find functioning with a reduced or missed dose? I'm not familiar with how the medication works, would you find it impacts your day to be given 1/4 your prescribed dose, or is that bullshit?
Further, if there was some impact, would that impact be worsened if you continued to take substantially less than prescribed, say for several weeks, or does it not compound like that?
Thanks in advance!
It absolutely can and does affect a person if they don’t get their dose, or don’t get the full dose. The thing is, it’s incredibly subjective, and depends heavily on the drug involved as well as the person involved (as well as any comorbidities, psychiatric or otherwise, that may be present).
If I miss my dose and it’s before about 1 in the afternoon, I’ll just take it late. Much later than that, and I’ll likely have trouble sleeping.
For me, there is no “medication debt” per se. I don’t believe the way the drugs interact with the condition itself actually lends itself to that concept at all, but others may experience it differently than what is enumerated in textbook cases.
But the thing is that, under the current circumstances, lawyers and judges have zero reason to be getting involved with this dudes psychiatric care and his legally-given and -obtained prescriptions. The dude is clearly leaning into the “misunderstood genius” or some similar narrative bullshit. This has just about zero bearing on the trial. He’s grandstanding because he or his lawyers think it will make one or more people on the jury sympathetic to him.
If I was the judge here, I’d have responded: “Didn’t ask; don’t care. At this point, I fully expect you to handle your medical and psychiatric care yourself.”
More stressful situations require more drugs to calm down. Makes sense, doesn't it?
That’s not really how it works with ADHD. You and your psych experiment with drugs and doses that they prescribe you over an extended period of time, then you stick with the one that works and also has the most minimal and manageable side effects. You generally don’t go up and down based on subjective transients - at least, not with this level of responsiveness.
Also, if he’s angling to get court-ordered additional adderall instead of going through proper psychiatric/pharmaceutical channels, that makes me strongly suspect that this is all bullshit.
As per the article, it's not additional Adderall. It's the prescribed amount he's used for years.
Yeah I wouldn’t dismiss his mental state or struggles because it doesn’t fit a narrative. Let the man have his drugs if it helps, what’s exactly the issue that we need to turn this into a debate. Kinda shouldn’t even be talking about his meds tbh.
Eh, don't associate by condition.
Like, it isn't a club or whatever, you're an individual, and your needs are individual.
Mf looks like he took all the adderall in this photo
Don't be an ass.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers say the embattled FTX founder needs more Adderall so he can concentrate during his ongoing criminal trial.
Bankman-Fried was diagnosed with ADHD and depression years ago, according to a story published by The New Yorker last month.
The lawyers wrote that Bankman-Fried had only been given a dose of Adderall in the early mornings before he arrived at court for his criminal trial.
Bankman-Fried's legal team proposed in the letter that their client be given an extended-release dose of Adderall before he is taken to court on Monday.
Prosecutors accuse Bankman-Fried of defrauding customers and investors of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, by siphoning their funds to his trading firm, Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried faces seven criminal charges ranging from securities fraud to money laundering.
The original article contains 352 words, the summary contains 122 words. Saved 65%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
"[...] despite not having his prescribed dose of Adderall during trial hours."
So he's not being given his full prescribed amount? WTF. Give it to him.
I don't really care if this guy is trying to use ADHD as an excuse for his crimes or not. I DO NOT want judges and lawyers deciding if I really need my prescribed meds or if maybe I can get by on half. I would call that a human rights violation.
Just give him his damn prescribed meds. Full stop. His ADHD is then off the table as a possible excuse.
I just don't want him to be able to appeal on the grounds that he was denied his meds.
Yeah, it sounds like his legal team is trying to build grounds to appeal and whoever is governing his medication is playing into their hands. Seriously, how much effort does it take to properly treat someone when they already have a prescription written?
There is literally an international shortage of Adderall going on. I doubt this is intentionally targeting Bankman-Fried in particular.
Of some formulations, yes, there is a shortage going on like a year now. Nothing in the article indicates that it is why this dude isn't having his prescription made available to him.