
I called my dad tonight about the Adderall XR issue.
He was surprisingly supportive, given that he's been a serious pain about the whole ADD thing. ("You don't have it," "You're not going to be on MEDICATION are you?!" etc.)
I launched into the whole story about how Ritalin didn't really work and made me sick, and how I got this new prescription but it costs a fortunate, etc. I expected him to grump at me, but he cheerfully agreed to talk to his HR person. He said maybe there's a process we can go through to get me an exception. He just asked me to email him the name and DIN of the med, and also a list of ADHD drugs, so that if he can't convince them to cover my prescription, he can at least ask them about the others on the list. So I don't do a ridiculous trial-and-error thing for months.
I mentioned that Adderall XR specifically might not be covered because of it being pulled off the market in Canada. He then was rather dubious about this particular med, although I tried patiently to explain that:
a) Hundreds more people die every year from Tylenol than have ever died from Adderall.
b) Apparently, the guy who briefly got Adderall pulled did it because he was looking for any excuse to get an ADHD med off the market, and he got fired because he was a loser anyway. Which, incidentally, is why it's back. (I don't know for certain that this is true, but I was told this by a psychologist who works with ADHD children, and since Canada was the only country that pulled it, it seems like a likely story.)
Dad just made a "meh" noise, but said that he doesn't really know anything about this stuff.
So I emailed off the info, and given how NON-ADD my dad is, I expect I'll hear back from him soon.