They are likely being careful due to HIPAA. Which would tend to point to the fact that Richard has a legitimate medical condition. Whether he ok'ed it with the league may not be an issue. I am not required to disclose to my employer what medications I take, unless I fail a drug test... then I need to submit proof that I have a prescription for what they claim I am taking that is a "drug of abuse".
Richard has a very strong defense if he truly has ADD or ADHD or even Narcolepsy. These are all very possible, especially when you consider how smart he is. Many people with ADD have very high intelligence, but have difficulty completing tasks.
So... let's say Richard has ADD/ADHD. He goes to the doctor during the lockout and gets Adderall. He wouldn't communicate it to the league or the team's doctors at that point. He continues taking it and never tests positive for it since it is eliminated from your body quickly, particularly if you drink orange juice or take in a lot of vitamin C (which is in a lot of supplements). Richard forgets to take his adderall the day of the test last year, and tests clean. This year he takes it as normal and tests "dirty". The league goes after him. He says, "Wait, I have a legitimate prescription, I've been taking it for X amount of years." League fires back with, "So what, you need to tell us." Richard fires back with "Talk to my lawyer." Lawyer fires off letter to NFL about this being a HIPAA violation because they are announcing to the world that Richard Sherman has a disability. Lawyer threatens NFL with massive lawsuit for violating Richard's HIPAA rights. NFL craps pants realizing that this is a very gray area, regardless of the league's collective bargaining agreement which allows for testing and suspending for performance enhancers.
Richard doesn't say anything about his condition, because then he is giving up his HIPAA rights essentially by telling the world about his disability and weakening his case, but as of now, still having a strong case against the NFL since he's been quiet about what the situation is and seems confident and says it will all work its way out.
He goes to hearing. Lawyer speaks. Doctor speaks. NFL barks back. Lawyer barks back about forthcoming lawsuit if you suspend a guy for having a learning disability/impairment and for punishing him for receiving legal treatment from a doctor and having a valid prescription. NFL doesn't want to look stupid or let others get away with using, so they go to the hearing stage and claim it has been handled and Richard was subject to league discipline. Richard then sues for being disciplined for being disabled.
Trust me.... I'm on this road right now myself, and there's a whole lot that can be going on behind the scenes. I had a boss attempt to force me to divulge a disability I had because I missed work and she didn't feel my doctor's note was adequate. Lawyers get involved, everything goes crazy, I'm "force transferred" and I quit instead. I then get a lawyer and we star the process of suing the state over discrimination due to my disability.
The process is long. I'm now 23 months in. So the fact that his has dragged tells me that they are gathering as much evidence as possible on both sides and probably trying to come to an agreement that makes everything work for both parties. As for me.... I will not quit on mine because I was wronged, they know it, I know it... and they know they are going down for it. I've got 500 pages of documentation, and I bet Richard does too.
Go get them Richard (if you're clean). If you're not.... knock it off, because you make it harder for those of us with legitimate disabilities to receive fair treatment in the workplace.