11th Defendant Convicted in Landmark Case Targeting Fraudulent Mental Health Technology Platform
A federal jury in the Western District of Michigan convicted Jonathan Decker, 46, of Rockford, Michigan, for distributing over 2 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants over the Done ADHD platform. Decker provided prescriptions for methamphetamine and amphetamines to patients without examining them, including to patients with substance use disorders and with significant mental health diagnoses, symptoms of which were exacerbated by the drugs Decker prescribed. Decker was paid more than $1 million for his prescriptions.
“The Fraud Division is providing full-spectrum accountability for drug dealers who cloak their activities in online telemedicine platforms,” said Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald of the Justice Department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division. “With this conviction — the eleventh in this landmark prosecution — we reaffirm that the Fraud Division will hold fully accountable anyone, whether in a boardroom or a doctor’s office, who abuses their medical license and novel technologies to flood communities with dangerous drugs and put vulnerable patients at risk.”
“Dr. Decker’s reckless abuse of his medical license put vulnerable patients at risk and fueled dangerous drug abuse,” said Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Miranda L. Bennett of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG). “HHS-OIG and our law enforcement partners will not tolerate such conduct — we will aggressively pursue and dismantle schemes that threaten public health and ensure those responsible face swift justice.”
Decker is now the 11th defendant convicted of participating in a $100 million dollar drug distribution and health care fraud scheme perpetrated by officers and employees of California-based digital health company Done Global, Inc. The convicted defendants include Done Global’s CEO Ruthia He and Clinical President David Brody, who were ordered to forfeit over $90 million in company revenues and respectively sentenced to 72 months and 24 months in prison, as well as six other licensed prescribers and two other senior corporate employees. In addition to these 11 convictions, Done Global is presently charged with conspiracies to illegally distribute controlled substances, commit health care fraud, and obstruct justice.
The members of the conspiracy leveraged Done’s technological platform to illegally distribute over 37 million pills of Adderall to paying subscribers in all fifty states, all in service of CEO Ruthia He’s ultimate goal to build a company with an over $1 billion valuation. Members of the conspiracy targeted subscribers by paying over $40 million in social media advertisements designed to deceive viewers into believing that they had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), rather than a host of other conditions that can impact an individual’s attention and mood. Done Global advertised its services presenting easy access to plentiful pills.
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“A medical license is a public trust, not a tool for flooding communities with dangerous controlled stimulants and exploiting vulnerable patients for profit,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Pete Gizas of HSI New York. “This conviction brings accountability to a doctor who placed his own greed above patient safety and the law. As a co-leader of the Homeland Security Task Force New York, HSI New York contributed critical investigative expertise to exposing this conspiracy, and we will remain at the forefront of dismantling schemes that exploit health care systems, endanger vulnerable people and threaten the safety of our communities.”
“The evidence in this case revealed a shocking disregard for patient safety and the law,” said Executive Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis Jr. of IRS-CI New York. “Jonathan Decker used his medical license as a license to profit, fueling addiction and putting vulnerable individuals at risk — all for personal gain. Our special agents followed the money, exposed the scheme, and worked relentlessly with our law enforcement partners to bring this defendant to justice. We will continue to pursue those who put greed above public health.”
Done providers including Decker then prescribed addictive stimulants to paying subscribers in order to keep them as members of the Done platform, even when warned that members were suffering from Adderall psychosis, bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, and other mental health conditions that were worsened by stimulant prescriptions. For instance, Decker prescribed methamphetamine to a patient with an active substance use disorder. This patient actively sought the methamphetamine prescription from him, and after she received the prescription she described for Decker that pharmacy after pharmacy had refused to fill the prescription. Decker also prescribed Adderall to a patient he knew to have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. After the patient’s mother messaged Decker and Done informing them of the schizophrenia diagnosis and explaining that Adderall exacerbated her psychotic symptoms, Decker still prescribed Adderall.
When pharmacies began refusing to fill any of Decker’s stimulant prescriptions, Decker speculated that “running a meth lab seems like a pretty good idea.”
Decker recruited other medical professionals to the conspiracy through text messages in which he described his prescribing practices:
Text messages from Jonathan Decker describing his prescribing practices
Decker earned thousands of dollars in referral bonuses for luring other medical professionals into the scheme.
The jury convicted Decker of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and six counts of distribution of controlled substances. A sentencing date has not been set. Decker faces a maximum penalty of 140 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation, Department of Health and Human Services – Office of Inspector General, and Homeland Security Investigations are investigating the case.
Trial Attorneys Sara D. Woodward and Ryan K. Elsey of the Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Section are prosecuting the case.
On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (Fraud Division). The Fraud Division is laser-focused on investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.
The Fraud Division’s Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program, currently comprised of nine strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion since 2007. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
