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Adderall conspirator arrested in California – UPI.com



U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Thursday the arrest of two executives of a company that sells Adderall online. Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI

June 14 (UPI) – Two prominent employees of a California-based healthcare company were arrested Thursday for distributing Adderall over the Internet, the Justice Department said.

Founder and CEO Ruthia He and David Brody, clinical president of Done Global Inc., were arrested for their role in the distribution scheme, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in connection with the filing of false and fraudulent reimbursement claims for Adderall and other stimulants.

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“As alleged, these defendants exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to design and implement a $100 million scheme to defraud taxpayers and provide easy access to Adderall and other stimulants without any legitimate medical purpose,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland.

“Those who seek to profit from addiction by illegally distributing controlled substances over the Internet should know that they cannot hide their crimes and that the Department of Justice will hold them accountable.”

According to court documents, he and Brody allegedly conspired to provide access to Adderall and other stimulants in exchange for a monthly subscription fee. The indictment says the pair continued to increase their monthly subscription revenue, thereby increasing the value of the company.

They are said to have ordered the prescription of over 40 million tablets of Adderall and other stimulants, generating revenues of over $100 million, the Justice Department said.

The documents show that he and Brody allegedly gained subscribers by targeting drug addicts and spending tens of millions of dollars on misleading social media advertising.

Done also allegedly intentionally structured the company’s platform to make it easy to access Adderall and other stimulants, instructing his employees to prescribe these drugs to people who may not need them and mandating that these interactions last no longer than 30 minutes.

To maximize his profits, he allegedly developed an auto-recharge feature for his account that allowed Done subscribers to automatically receive a message each month asking them to recharge their account, the Justice Department said.

The documents show that he discouraged follow-up medical care by “refusing to pay prescribing physicians for office visits, telemedicine consultations, or time spent caring for patients after an initial consultation, and instead paid solely based on the number of patients who received prescriptions,” according to court documents.

According to federal prosecutors, he and Brody allegedly continued the conspiracy even after they were told that Done’s online instructions for accessing Adderall and other stimulants might have led to overdose deaths.

According to the Justice Department, they also covered up and concealed the conspiracy by making false statements to the media in order to prevent government investigations and actions and to induce third parties to continue their business relationship with Done.

The two are also accused of defrauding pharmacies and Medicare and Medicaid insurers.

If convicted, he and Brody each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances, respectively.