By Bill Meagher
Dr. David Brody has his psychiatric office on Red Hill Road in San Anselmo. But if the feds have anything to say about it, Brody will need to let that lease go.
The clinical president of Done Health, Brody is facing health-care fraud charges after the U.S. Department of Justice arrested him following an indictment alleging a scheme to distribute Adderall via a telemedicine network. He was also charged with obstruction of justice over allegedly destroying documents the feds wanted. The court allowed for Brody’s release on $250,000 bond.
Adderall is a stimulant used to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and the drug must be prescribed by doctor as it qualifies as a controlled substance.
According to the indictment, Brody and the CEO of Done Health, Ruthia He, are alleged to have acted in conspiracy “to unlawfully enrich themselves by, among other things, increasing monthly subscription revenue and thus increasing the value of the company. Done [Health] allegedly arranged for the prescription of over 40 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants, and obtained over $100 million in revenue.”
A million here and a million there, pretty soon it’s real cash.
Brody and He are accused of providing easy access to Adderall and other drugs via the telemedicine connection and spending millions of dollars on deceptive advertisements on social media. The indictment alleged that Done defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurers of $14 million.
According to Done’s website, “Done is a digital health company that is making high quality psychiatric chronic care management more accessible and affordable for patients. Our mission is to empower everyone to reach their fullest potential.”
The website also carries this disclaimer: Done Global Inc. [parent company of Done] does not provide any medical services. All professional services are provided by independent medical groups via the Done technology platform.”
Via an online platform, Done clients were put in touch with medical professionals who reviewed the clients request for meds as well as condition and symptoms. If drugs were proscribed, the client could pick them up at a pharmacy or in some cases they could be mailed.
Brody has a medical degree from UC Irvine and did postdoctoral work at Stanford University’s Department of Neurobiology, according to Done’s website.
The Better Business Bureau undertook a review of a series of complaints about customer service at Done in June 2022. The company is not accredited by the BBB.
The DOJ and the BBB weren’t alone in having concerns about Done. In 2022, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency was also kicking the tires on how Done worked and the drugs that were allegedly being distributed. The Wall Street Journal was the first media outlet to report on the DEA’s interest in Done.
Brody faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and distribution of controlled substances.
Dr. Brody’s San Francisco-based attorney Naomi Chung furnished this statement: “The war on drugs has now become a war on doctors. Millions of patients will be denied access to essential medicines as a result, resulting in profound suffering that the government apparently views as acceptable collateral damage. Dr. Brody worked to promote access to medical treatment for those with ADHD in the face of both widespread stigma and the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic, and we look forward to presenting his case in court.”
Your Marin Moment
It seems that Thomas Wolfe got it wrong, you can go home again. At least you can if you are Gavin Newsom. The Governor of California has ditched Sacramento for Marin, returning to his roots for the sake of his kids’ educations.
Officially, Newsom will split some time between here and Sacramento. But the move home has been in the works for a while so that when his current term is up in 2027, their children will not have to move schools then.
Newsom, along with his wife Jenifer Seibel Newsom, come back to a place that hasn’t changed much since Newsom took the chief exec job for the Golden State. Marin is still a fairly educated area with low unemployment, housing costs that are from another planet, and local battles over a wide variety of issues.
At this writing, Newsom has been a good soldier in the days following a brutal debate performance by President Joe Biden. Newsom has publicly defended Biden, saying now is not the time for Democrats to be looking in other directions for a candidate. This, despite the fact that Newsom is mentioned widely as a choice to take Biden’s spot on the ticket should he decide to step down.
Bill Meagher is a contributing editor at NorthBay biz and writes this column on a monthly basis. He is also a senior reporter at The Deal, a Manhattan-based financial news outlet where he covers alternative investment, SPACs, PIPEs and the SEC among other acronyms.
