Healthcare company execs arrested for running $100M online Adderall scheme
UNITED STATES - JANUARY 19: Ten milligram tablets of the hyperactivity drug, Adderall, made by Shire Plc, is shown in a Cambridge, Massachusetts pharmacy Thursday, January 19, 2006. Shire Plc, the U.K.'s third-largest drugmaker, said it settled a pat
SAN FRANCISCO - The founder-CEO and clinical president of a digital health company have been arrested and charged for their part in a multi-million-dollar scheme to give people easy access to Adderall and other restricted drugs, among other crimes.
Ruthia He, the founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Done Global Inc., and her co-defendant, Clinical President of Done Health P.C., David Brody, were arrested Thursday for providing Adderall and other stimulants "with no legitimate medical purpose," online, according to the Northern District of California's U.S. Attorney's Office.
He was arrested in Los Angeles and will appear in an LA court. Brody was arrested in San Rafael and will make his first appearance in a San Francisco court.
"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," Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
Court documents allege He and Brody schemed together and with others to make it easy for customers to access Adderall and other stimulants for a monthly payment, making over $100 million and dispensing over 40 million Adderall pills, federal officials said.
A federal report also claimed Done patients overdosed and died, although prosecutors did not specify how many.
"The defendants allegedly preyed on Americans and put profits over patients by exploiting telemedicine rules that facilitated access to medications…" DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement. "In many cases, Done Global prescribed ADHD medications when they were not medically necessary.
The pair allegedly targeted drug users and spent tens of millions in "deceptive advertisements" on social media. They also allegedly limited the information available to their prescribers and instructed them to prescribe the drugs to patients even if the patient did not qualify, prosecutors said.
The company's compensation structure also made it difficult for prescribers to be paid for their medical visits, telemedicine consultations, or other follow-ups with their patients; paying them solely based on how many of their patients received prescriptions, prosecutors said.
He and Brody's alleged scheme defrauded pharmacies, Medicare, and Medicaid.
The case against them was being investigated by the DEA, Department of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and IRS Criminal Investigation.
If convicted, both face up to 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances charges. KTVU reached out to Done for a comment over the charges and accusations made against the company and has yet to hear back.