ADHD telehealth startup Done has been under investigation by federal authorities for the alleged overprescription of stimulants for well over a year. Today, the Justice Department announced that top Done executives were arrested and charged with fraud, with the indictment noting that the company was “spending tens of millions of dollars on deceptive social media advertisements.”
TikTok and Meta have been hosting Done’s ads for years, despite widespread reporting on their “deceptive” advertising practices cited in the Justice Department's indictment.
Media Matters and other outlets first rang alarm bells about Done’s deceptive advertising tactics in early 2022, after investigating a massive TikTok ad campaign that misleadingly oversimplified ADHD symptoms and enticed users with promises of expedited diagnoses and stimulant prescriptions. Months later, CVS and Walmart announced their pharmacies would refuse to fill controlled substance prescriptions from the company.
According to a prior Media Matters analysis, Done spent over $4.3 million on TikTok ads from 2022 to April 2023, garnering nearly half a billion impressions. Media Matters also found that Done has spent more than $800,000 on Instagram ads between January 1 and May 11, 2022, some of which seemingly violated Meta’s policy against listing prices in ads promoting prescription drugs.
The DOJ’s indictment of founder and CEO Ruthia He and clinical leader David Brody — which comes after the Drug Enforcement Administration launched an investigation into Done in 2023 for allegedly overprescribing stimulants to customers — notably included that Done was “spending tens of millions of dollars on deceptive social media advertisements, intentionally targeting drug-seeking patients, and advertising that members could obtain easy access to prescriptions for Adderall and other stimulants in exchange for payment of a monthly prescription fee.”
Done ads feature young creators who often mimic popular content by utilizing viral sound clips and video formats. Done ads also appear to misleadingly overgeneralize symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to reel in new customers, a tactic the company has used for years despite repeated criticism.
Even as the DOJ charged Done executives, TikTok and Meta are seemingly allowing the company to run ads on their platforms.
According to TikTok’s creative center, Done ads have still been running on the platform as of this week.
“I had no idea I had adult ADHD until my girlfriend had me take this one minute assessment quiz from Done,” said one creator in a Done advertisement.
