Telehealth company Cerebral to pay $3.65 mln to resolve probe of Adderall sales
By Brendan Pierson
Nov 5 (Reuters) -Mental health telemedicine company Cerebral has agreed to pay $3.65 million to resolve a federal investigation into practices that authorities say encouraged the unauthorized distribution of Adderall and other controlled substances.
The non-prosecution agreement, announced on Monday by the office of U.S. Attorney Breon Peace in the Eastern District of New York, also includes a $2.9 million fine, which is deferred because of the company's inability to pay. It will be waived if the company continues to cooperate and provide information to prosecutors during the 30-month term of the agreement, Peace's office said.
Prosecutors said Cerebral's illegal conduct lasted from 2019 to 2022. They said the company marketed itself as providing treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and internally tracked how many initial visits with its providers resulted in prescriptions of controlled substances like Adderall.
They said the company deliberately sought to increase that prescription rate, including by awarding bonuses to supervisors who delivered more prescriptions and ignoring concerns from its own employees that its practices encouraged illegal prescriptions.
"People seeking care for their mental health conditions should receive high-quality care that is not motivated or driven by greed," Peace said in a statement.
"As reflected in the agreement, Cerebral takes pride in the measures it has implemented since that time to strengthen and ensure its delivery of high quality, patient-centered care to those in need of behavioral health treatment," Cerebral said in a statement.
Cerebral's appeared to be the first non-prosecution agreement of its kind. Federal prosecutors in June criminally charged the founder and top doctor of San Francisco-based telehealth startup Done Global with running a fraudulent scheme to distribute Adderall online.
U.S. regulators have said that illegal Adderall sales have exacerbated a shortage of the drug that has persisted since 2022.
The government classifies Adderall as a Schedule II controlled substance, because of its high potential for abuse and dependence. Cocaine, methamphetamine and the opioid OxyContin are among other products in that group.
The $3.65 million forfeiture represents the amount of revenue reasonably attributable to the misconduct, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the Delaware-based company, which markets mental health services directly to consumers, failed to maintain internal controls against diversions, allowing duplicate patient accounts through which the same patient could obtain a prescription through different providers.
The company has taken voluntary measures since 2022 to address the problems, prosecutors said.
(Reporting By Brendan Pierson in New York)
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Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
