A recent criminal case illustrates how deceptive health marketing can blur the line between education and exploitation, especially on social media where people are encouraged to self-diagnose.
California federal judge Charles R. Breyer sentenced two former executives to years in prison and fines of $1 million each. The executives — Ruthia He (age 34) and David Brody (age 70) — had been convicted of distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud in relation to a telehealth website they operated under the corporate entity Done Global Inc., which sold Adderall over the internet.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) called their operation a “$90 Million Scheme to Distribute over 37 Million Pills of Adderall.” Basically, their telehealth company schemed to provide access to Adderall to patients who didn’t really need it, and then billed insurance companies for the medication.
DOJ Said Doctors Were Paid To Sign a New Adderall Prescription Every 30 Seconds
According to the DOJ, the defendants’ digital health company engaged in some very shady practices. Evidence shown at trial showed that Done Global Inc.:
- Spent $40 million on social media ads that deceived people into thinking they had ADHD when they probably didn’t.
- Bullied its doctors into prescribing Adderall even to patients who didn’t need it or were at high risk of abuse or serious side effects.
- Fraudulently told patients’ insurers that Done Global followed the DSM-5 in diagnosing ADHD, used drug screens and had prescribed non-stimulant drugs first without success. As a result, Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers paid out about $12.3 million that they otherwise wouldn’t have.
- Implemented policies that paid clinicians more based on the number of Adderall refills instead of the number of follow-up consultations with patients, and even implemented an “auto-refill” feature in their internal systems, which kept refilling prescriptions after an initial diagnosis to minimize follow-up appointments.
- Refused to hire or fired clinicians who did not participate in the conspiracy, while paying as much as $60,000 per month to clinicians who signed Adderall prescriptions every 30 seconds.
- Kept authorizing refills even through patients’ involuntary psychiatric holds or after the patients had overdosed or died.
A Little Background on Ruthia He and Done Global Inc.
Done Global, Inc., was co-founded in 2019 by Ruthia He and David Brody. He is a former Facebook product designer. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, she capitalized on the DEA’s relaxed rules requiring in-person consultations for prescribing controlled substances. The relaxed rules allowed Done to offer online access to ADHD medications such as Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse without requiring patients to meet in person with the prescribing doctor.
David Brody, MD, was the former clinical president and top doctor at Done Global, Inc. He personally wrote hundreds of thousands of prescriptions to tens of thousands of patients — and bragged that he did this without ever evaluating them or reviewing their medical records.
The Trial and Sentencing
After a jury found both defendants guilty, Judge Charles R. Breyer sentenced He to six years in prison and Brody to two years, plus fines of $1 million each. In addition to the crimes of distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, Ruthia He was also convicted of one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice.
This conviction was related to He’s efforts to move to encrypted messaging applications, turn on “disappearing message” functionality for her own communications, move assets to China, and delete incriminating documents and messages from company servers — all apparently to escape liability.
In He’s sentencing, Judge Breyer emphasized the actions she had taken to conceal the nature of Done Global Inc.’s operations. Prosecutors had originally asked the court to sentence He to 20 years in prison and Brody to 10 years. Both defendants sought significantly less time and expressed remorse.
There’s Evidence He Planned to Flee to China
Ruthia He is a green card holder who grew up in China and has lived in the United States for 14 years. During the course of the investigation, she transferred much of Done Global’s business to China. The move made it much more difficult for prosecutors to collect evidence or talk with employees. It also created a financial foundation for her to leave the United States.
The federal government argued that the evidence presented at trial supports the conclusion that He intended to leave for China permanently. Prosecutors obtained a saved screenshot from He’s computer. It was the result of an internet search for “non extradition countries with US” (sic). Common countries with no U.S. Extradition Treaty include China.
In February 2023, federal investigators intercepted He in San Francisco as she prepared to travel to Hong Kong. She was then required to surrender her passport as a condition of pretrial release. After that, however, prosecutors said she obtained a travel document from the Chinese government. She also created a company in China called Make Believe Asia and transferred a significant amount of money to it (anywhere between $500,000 and millions).
Green card holders who are convicted of felonies generally face severe immigration consequences, including deportation and permanent bars to re-entering the United States. At sentencing, Judge Breyer said He was likely to be deported after her release.
For consumers, the takeaway is to be cautious about any service that promises quick, frictionless access to controlled drugs, to ask pointed questions about how diagnoses are made and monitored, and to verify that prescribers are actually reviewing medical history instead of relying on auto-refills.
