Online ADHD Meds: Useful or Dangerous?

Cerebral, a SoftBank-backed online mental health startup valued at $4.8 billion, is being investigated by the DOJ for possible violations of the Controlled Substances Act, the company disclosed on Saturday.

💊 What’s going on?... Part of the startup's business involves diagnosing and prescribing meds to treat ADHD. In March, the WSJ reported some of Cerebral’s nurse practitioners felt pressured by the company to prescribe stimulants, and also thought Cerebral’s 30-minute evaluations weren’t long enough to accurately diagnose ADHD. 

A former Cerebral exec also filed a lawsuit last month alleging something similar; the company has denied all claims of wrongdoing.

• On May 2, Cerebral’s preferred online pharmacy, Truepill, stopped filling prescriptions for all stimulants “out of an abundance of caution” – a trend seen across the industry, per the WSJ, which reported that pharmacies including Walmart, CVS and Walgreens have blocked or delayed prescriptions for companies treating ADHD online.
• A Cerebral spokesperson said the startup received a DOJ subpoena on the evening of May 4, hours after the company announced it would stop writing new prescriptions for stimulants that treat ADHD, like Adderall and Ritalin.

📸 Big picture: The number of ADHD drugs dispensed in the US rose at an annualized rate of 6.1% ​​from 2010 to 2013 to reach 80 million prescriptions, according to the latest available data. 

• Roughly 14.5 million Americans have ADHD, including 6.1 million children, according to the National Institute of Mental Health and the CDC.

+Our experience: Anyone else getting overwhelmingly targeted with ADHD ads on TikTok?🙋‍♀️