DOJ Indicts Startup Telehealth Executives Over ‘Easy Access’ Adderall Distribution

OTTAWA, ON, CANADA - NOVEMBER 13, 2019: Single 20 mg capsule of Adderall XR, a mixed amphetamine salts stimulant used in psychiatric medicine to treat ADD, ADHD and narcolepsy, on a gray surface.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has arrested a startup telehealth company founder and physician for alleged distribution of Adderall and other stimulants over the internet.

These indictments mark the first charges the DOJ has filed against a telehealth company, the DOJ said.

Ruthia He, founder and CEO of California-based Done Global, and the clinical president for Done Health P.C., Dr. David Brody, were arrested for allegedly selling and distributing Adderall and other stimulants online.

The DOJ alleged the pair made over $100 million and sold over 40 million pills and accused the two of conspiring to commit health fraud using fraudulent claims for reimbursement for Adderall prescriptions.

Adderall is an amphetamine used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.

“As alleged, these defendants exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to develop and carry out a $100 million scheme to defraud taxpayers and provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants for no legitimate medical purpose,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a June 13 press release. “Those seeking to profit from addiction by illegally distributing controlled substances over the internet should know that they cannot hide their crimes and that the Justice Department will hold them accountable.”

Ms. He and Dr. Brody spent millions on social media advertisements conceived to target drug users, the DOJ alleges.

The department said the Done First website itself was designed to give drug users easy access to Adderall and other stimulants by keeping information on prescribers at a minimum so that even those who didn’t qualify for a prescription could still get one.

‘Worry-Free Refills’

According to its website, Done First promotes three steps in a user’s “path to mental well-being:” a fast, clinical assessment; an appointment booked that day or the next; and follow-up visits with “worry-free refills.”

“Our passion for treating ADHD comes from family experience with the diagnosis,” Dr. Brody, a neurology resident in psychiatry at Stanford University, said in a quote on the website. “We believe that ADHD, when properly understood and treated, can become a patient’s asset rather than the deficit the name implies.”

The company charges $199 for the first month, and $79 for the following months, which go to online sessions and automatic refills.

The DOJ alleged that the website minimized follow-ups “by refusing to pay Done prescribers for any medical visits, telemedicine consultation, or time spent caring for patients after an initial consultation, and instead paying solely based on the number of patients who received prescriptions.”

‘Highly Addictive Medication’

Anne Milgram, the administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration, alleged that Ms. He and Dr. Brody manipulated telemedicine rules that had been loosened during the COVID-19 pandemic to sell “highly addictive medications” which only added to the national Adderall shortage.

In October 2022, the Food and Drug Administration announced a shortage of Adderall, stating that supply wasn’t meeting demand even though companies were still making the drug.

“Any diversion of Adderall and other prescription stimulant pills to persons who have no medical need only exacerbates this shortage and hurts any American with a legitimate medical need for these drugs,” Ms. Milgram said.

Despite Ms. He and Dr. Brody being made aware of online content describing how to get Adderall from their company, they continued in their business, even after they found a prescriber had died from an overdose, the DOJ alleged.

Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial insurers paid out $14 million based on Ms. He and Dr. Brody’s statements as users continued to pay prescription fees, the DOJ alleged.

Ms. He and Dr. Brody also conspired to obstruct justice by deleting information and using encrypted messaging communications instead of the company email, the DOJ alleged.

First Telehealth Charge

The defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. 

“These charges are the Justice Department’s first criminal drug distribution prosecutions related to telemedicine prescribing through a digital health company,“ DOJ Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri said in a statement. She added, ”as these charges make clear, corporate executives who put profit over the health and safety of patients—including by using technological innovation—will be held to account.”

The Epoch Times reached out to Done First for comment.