California telehealth firm, Florida medical practice indicted in alleged illegal Adderall distribution scheme
A California digital health company and a Florida medical practice have been indicted in an alleged $100 million scheme to illegally distribute Adderall over the internet to patients across the country who didn't need it, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
The U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release that San Francisco-based Done Global is charged with one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute Adderall, four counts of illegal distribution of Adderall, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. The DOJ has described the case as the department's first criminal drug distribution case involving a digital health platform built around online Adderall subscriptions.
The indictment alleges Done Global conspired with Mindful Mental Wellness P.A., which uses the same San Francisco address as Done Global but has a registered agent in St. Petersburg, Florida, in a years-long scheme to provide Adderall and other stimulants in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. MMW, which allegedly provided prescribing clinicians to the platform, is charged with conspiring to illegally distribute Adderall.
The conspiracy's purpose was for the companies to enrich themselves by, among other things, instructing Done staffers to prescribe the stimulants without any legitimate medical purpose, thereby increasing monthly subscription revenue and increasing the value of Done Global, according to the indictment.
Done Global allegedly arranged for the prescription of over 40 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants and obtained over $100 million in revenue since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the indictment alleged. Last month, a federal jury in San Francisco convicted Done's founder and CEO, Ruthia He, and its clinical president, Dr. David Brody, on similar charges.
According to court filings, Done Global allegedly used aggressive digital marketing and streamlined telehealth visits to make it easy to obtain Adderall, including for people who did not have a legitimate medical need. Prosecutors say the company targeted drug seekers, instructed clinicians to be liberal in prescribing stimulants, and compensated providers based on how many Adderall pills they prescribed rather than the quality or length of consultations.
The indictment alleged that Done Global and MMW also misled pharmacies and insurers by concealing the extent of their online prescribing and submitting false and fraudulent claims for Adderall and other stimulants. When some pharmacies began rejecting prescriptions linked to the platform, Done Global incorporated MMW to circumvent the pharmacies blocking the Done-affiliated prescriptions and continue the flow of pills.
Done Global also allegedly conspired to alter, destroy, and conceal records after receiving a grand jury subpoena, prosecutors said.
The Justice Department said the companies put profits ahead of patient safety and undermined safeguards intended to prevent abuse of addictive medications.
"Instead of leveraging technology to improve patient access to care and enhance communications, Done Global saw it as a way to boost profit," said U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Craig Missakian in a prepared statement. "We will vigorously pursue companies that engage in this kind of fraud and put patients at risk."
"By distributing over 40 million Adderall pills for non-legitimate medical purposes, [Done Global] prioritized profit over patient safety and public health," said Drug Enforcement Administration assistant administrator Cheri Oz in a statement. "Controlled substances are not commodities to be marketed through memberships — they are medications that require careful oversight to prevent misuse and diversion."
CBS News has reached out to Done Global for comment on the indictment.
If convicted of conspiracy and illegal distribution of Adderall, Done Global faces a maximum penalty of twice the gross profits or other proceeds, while conspiracy to commit health care fraud and obstruction carry a maximum penalty of twice the gain or twice the gross loss. MMW faces a maximum penalty for conspiracy to illegally distribute Adderall of twice the gross profits or other proceeds.
The indictment comes during an ongoing nationwide shortage of Adderall and other stimulant medications, now in its third year. The shortage is blamed in part on increased demand from patients in need of ADHD treatment and federal limits to the supply, according to federal officials.
Last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration also blamed "increased prescribing potentially related to the growth in telemedicine, supply chain issues, manufacturing and quality issues, and business decisions of manufacturers" for contributing to the shortages.