Ruthia He, the founder and CEO of the subscription-based “digital health company” Done, and the company’s clinical president, David Brody, “exploited emergency flexibilities during the [covid-19] public health emergency to provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants that were not for a legitimate medical purpose,” the Department of Justice claims.
The two executives were arrested and indicted for distributing controlled substances, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, and other charges. This is the first time the DOJ has charged someone with criminal drug distribution related to their involvement in a telehealth company. The DOJ and DEA began investigating Cerebral, another telehealth company, in 2022. Four months after news of the Cerebral investigation went public, The Wall Street Journal reported that the DEA was also investigating Done.
According to the indictment filed on Thursday in California’s Northern District, He and Brody “conspired to defraud pharmacies and Medicare” by prescribing Adderall and other stimulants to patients who didn’t have ADHD.