A Marin County psychiatrist who works as an executive at a health care company was arrested Thursday on suspicion of helping to arrange a $100 million drug fraud scheme, federal authorities said.
Dr. David Brody, clinical president of Done Health, was arraigned in U.S. District Court in San Francisco following his arrest in San Rafael. He pleaded not guilty to federal charges including conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler approved Brody's release from custody. Brody, who has an office in San Anselmo, couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday.
Brody's co-defendant is Ruthia He, founder and CEO of Done Health's parent company Done Global Inc. She was arrested in Los Angeles on Thursday, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
If convicted, each defendants resist 20 years in a federal prison.
Brody and He are accused of operating a telemedicine business that provided customers with easy online access to the psychotropic drug Adderall and other stimulants with no medical purpose. They are accused of enriching themselves by arranging the prescription of greater than 40 million pills and generating greater than $100 million in sales because the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland condemned the alleged misconduct.
“Those who seek to profit from addiction by illegally distributing controlled substances over the Internet should know that they cannot hide their crimes and that the Department of Justice will hold them accountable,” he said in an announcement from the prosecutor's office.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said the defendants “allegedly violated the first rule of health care – do no harm – to maximize their profits. There is no place for such fraud in our health care system.”
“The indictment of these individuals sends a clear message: The Department of Homeland Security, our Homeland Security Investigations staff, and our partners across the federal government will hold accountable those doctors and prescribers who exploit their patients,” Mayorkas said in a released statement.
The federal charges focused on the business practices of Done, a self-described “digital health company” that offered its customers a monthly subscription service. The company offered services similar to attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication refills and online treatment and diagnosis.
He is accused of getting an “Automatic Refill Option” that allowed Done subscribers to request an automatic refill of medicines every month.
Prosecutors allege that Done paid “prescribers,” or medical professionals, to diagnose his clients with ADHD and write them prescriptions for controlled substances similar to Adderall.
“He, Brody and others paid and arranged for lucrative payments to Done prescribers to induce them to sign prescriptions that served no legitimate medical purpose in the normal course of professional practice,” the indictment states.
The indictment also alleges that doctors wrote prescriptions to their clients based on transient conversations with them and that some clients weren’t examined or had no relationship with a health care provider in any respect.
“Instead of adequately addressing medical needs, the defendants allegedly made millions of dollars by selling addictive drugs,” Anne Milgram, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Thursday. “In many cases, Done Global prescribed ADHD medications when they were not medically necessary.”
The defendants also face charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice when Done got here under scrutiny for its business practices in 2022. Authorities accused them of attempting to obstruct a federal grand jury investigation into their company by deleting company documents and communications.
Brody makes a speciality of mental health and the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, based on his bio at Done Company. The defendant holds a medical degree from the University of California, Irvine, and accomplished postdoctoral work at Stanford University.
Brody's attorney, Naomi Chung, said she looks forward to arguing his case in court.
“Dr. Brody has been committed to promoting access to medical treatment for people with ADHD, despite widespread stigma and the unprecedented challenges of a global pandemic,” she said.
Brody's next court hearing is scheduled for July 24.
His lawyer, Vicki Chou, couldn’t be reached for comment. A spokesman for Done didn’t reply to a request for comment Thursday.
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