June 14 (UPI) -- Two prominent members of a California-based health company were arrested Thursday for distributing Adderall over the Internet, the Justice Department announced.
The founder and CEO, Ruthia He, and David Brody, the clinical president of Done Global Inc., were arrested for their role in the distribution scheme, obstruction of justice and for conspiring to commit healthcare fraud in connection with the submission of false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement for Adderall and other stimulants.
"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," said Attorney General Merrick Garland.
"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."
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He and Brody allegedly conspired to provide access to Adderall and other stimulants in exchange for a monthly subscription fee, according to court documents. The indictment alleges that the pair continued to increase its monthly subscription revenue, driving up the value of the company.
They allegedly arranged for the prescription of over 40 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants, and generated over $100 million in revenue, the Justice Department said.
Documents show that He and Brody allegedly enrolled subscribers by targeting drug seekers and spending tens of millions of dollars on deceptive social media advertising.
Done also allegedly intentionally structured the company's platform to make it easy to access Adderall and other stimulants, instructing their employees to prescribe those drugs to people who may not have needed them, and mandating that those interactions last 30 minutes or less.
To maximize profits, He allegedly established an "auto-refill" function that allowed Done subscribers to elect to have a message requesting a refill be auto-generated every month, the Justice Department said.
Documents show that He discouraged follow-up medical care 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," court documents show.
Federal prosecutors said that He and Brody allegedly continued in the conspiracy even after they were told that Done's online instructions about how to access Adderall and other stimulants may have led to overdose deaths.
They also allegedly concealed and disguised the conspiracy by making fraudulent representations to media outlets to forestall government investigations and action and induce third parties to continue doing business with Done, according to the Justice Department.
The pair also allegedly conspired to defraud pharmacies and Medicare and Medicaid.
If convicted, He and Brody each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances counts.
