‘The dosages were completely different’: Mum’s find after measuring ADHD pills

“My son is sensitive to red dye, so I always empty each manufacturer capsule into a clear one and that’s when I saw it,” the shocked mum reveals.

Pilar Grace

2 min read

January 26, 2024 - 9:58AM

Family Life

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Tabetha Klein’s son Noah takes Adderall for ADHD, and the US mum recently made a frightening discovery when she was getting his pills ready.

She explained that Noah has a sensitivity to red 40 dye (which is banned in Australia), and the artificial food colouring is present in the capsules that contain his medication.

To help Noah avoid the dye, Tabetha transfers the contents of each capsule into clear capsules she buys online.

Over Christmas she received Noah’s new script and as she transferred the medication into clear capsules, she noticed a massive discrepancy in the dosages.

“I didn’t realise there are different manufacturers that produce Adderall,” she said in a viral video.

“As I’m [transferring I see], there’s this much medicine. As I’m switching them over, look at the difference between these two.”

Tabetha held up two capsules side by side. One is full and the other has half as much medication inside.

It wasn’t just one capsule. Across the bottle, there were huge differences in the amounts of medicine in each dose.

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Mum finds alarming discrepancy with son's ADHD medication

Mum finds alarming discrepancy in son’s ADHD medication

Tabetha held up rows of pills between her fingers showing the differences in doses.

“All of these ones are all low and all these ones are all high,” she said. “Am I overdosing him? Or am I underdosing him.”

Talking about a scenario where Noah didn’t get a high enough dose for the day, “This is a bad day at school,” she said, holding the smaller dose.

Followers were shocked at Tabetha’s discovery.

“Sounds like someone is stealing Adderall,” one person speculated.

“Imagine what they do with opioids! Chronic pain patients suffering like animals,” another person said.

“This also happened to me!” said a third person.

The difference between the pills was huge. Photo: TikTok/thekleinlife

Tabetha posted an update, and while she got Noah’s pills for the month sorted, the overarching issue hadn’t yet been addressed.

“We got the new medication, as soon as we got the bottle I checked, they were consistent. The name brand Adderall was all consistent,” she said. “We haven’t heard anything back from the manufacturer or the FDA [Food and Drug Administration].”