According to Gizmodo, Done Global founder Ruthia He and clinical president David Brody were convicted Tuesday on multiple federal charges including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and health care fraud. The executives oversaw a scheme that involved buying over $40 million in deceptive social media ads during the pandemic starting in 2020, targeting people seeking ADHD meds without proper prescriptions. They paid nurse practitioners up to $60,000 monthly for automatic refills and continued prescribing to patients even after family members reported serious mental health crises including Adderall-induced psychosis. The operation resulted in over $100 million worth of fraudulent Adderall prescriptions being distributed. Both now face up to 20 years in prison with sentencing scheduled for February 2026.
The telehealth wild west
This case basically shows what happens when the guardrails come off during a crisis. The pandemic created this perfect storm where telehealth went from niche to essential overnight. And companies like Done Global saw an opportunity to exploit that rapid shift. They weren’t just pushing boundaries—they were operating what prosecutors called “one of the most egregious abuses of telehealth we’ve seen.”
Systematic exploitation
What’s really striking here is how systematic this was. This wasn’t just some rogue operation—they built an entire business model around addiction. The $40 million in targeted ads, the $60,000 monthly payments to nurses for automatic refills, the search engine optimization to catch people specifically looking for easy prescriptions. They even had technology set up for auto-refills without any clinical follow-up. That’s not just cutting corners—that’s building a factory for controlled substance distribution.
Digital health reckoning
Here’s the thing: this conviction is going to send shockwaves through the entire digital health industry. It’s the first illegal drug prosecution of a telehealth company, according to the Department of Justice. And it comes at a time when regulators are already scrutinizing online prescribing practices. I suspect we’re about to see a major crackdown on the entire telehealth prescription model. The question is, how many other companies were operating in this gray area?
Patient safety as collateral damage
Look, the most disturbing part isn’t just the fraud—it’s the complete disregard for patient safety. Prosecutors presented evidence that Done continued prescribing to patients even after family members contacted them about bipolar episodes and Adderall-induced psychosis. That’s not just illegal—that’s morally bankrupt. When you’re prioritizing monthly refill revenue over people experiencing serious mental health crises, you’ve crossed from questionable business practices into something much darker.
