Jury convicts Michigan prescriber in 2 million-pill Adderall telehealth case

A federal jury in the Western District of Michigan has convicted Jonathan Decker, 46, of Rockford, Michigan, of distributing more than 2 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants through the telehealth platform Done, the Justice Department announced.

Decker was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and six counts of distribution of controlled substances. He faces a maximum penalty of 140 years in prison, but a federal judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. No sentencing date has been set.

Prosecutors said Decker prescribed methamphetamine and amphetamines without examining patients, including some with substance use disorders or serious mental health diagnoses whose symptoms were worsened by the drugs. The department said he was paid more than $1 million for the prescriptions.

According to the Justice Department, Decker prescribed methamphetamine to a patient with an active substance use disorder who subsequently told him that pharmacy after pharmacy had refused to fill the prescription. He also prescribed Adderall to a patient he knew had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, even after her mother messaged him and Done to say the drug worsened her psychotic symptoms. When pharmacies began refusing to fill any of his stimulant prescriptions, the department said, Decker speculated that “running a meth lab seems like a pretty good idea.”

Decker is the 11th defendant convicted in what the department described as a $100 million drug distribution and health care fraud scheme involving officers and employees of California-based Done Global Inc. Those convicted include CEO Ruthia He and Clinical President David Brody, who were ordered to forfeit more than $90 million in company revenue and sentenced to 72 months and 24 months in prison, respectively. Six other licensed prescribers and two other senior employees also were convicted. Done Global itself is currently charged with conspiracies to illegally distribute controlled substances, commit health care fraud and obstruct justice.

The department said the conspiracy distributed more than 37 million Adderall pills to paying subscribers in all 50 states. Members of the conspiracy spent more than $40 million on social media advertising designed to deceive viewers into believing they had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD.

“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 department’s National Fraud Enforcement Division.

Miranda L. Bennett, acting deputy inspector general for investigations at the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, said Decker’s “reckless abuse of his medical license put vulnerable patients at risk and fueled dangerous drug abuse.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration, IRS Criminal Investigation, HHS-OIG 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 it.