Cerebral's $3.6 million non-prosecution agreement over Adderall prescribing
Cerebral Inc., a digital mental health telehealth company, agreed in November 2024 to pay more than $3.6 million and entered a non-prosecution agreement with the Justice Department over allegations it used prescribing metrics and financial incentives to push providers toward writing more Adderall and other stimulant prescriptions. A further $2.9 million fine was deferred because Cerebral said it did not have the ability to pay it. Cerebral avoided criminal charges under the agreement.
- Year
- 2024
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Settled
- Reported loss
- $3.6 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- ADHD telehealth mill fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-29
The facts, as recorded
- Cerebral introduced new prescribing-related measures in early 2021 that, the government alleged, encouraged providers to prescribe controlled substances like Adderall to boost patient retention and revenue, using an initial-visit prescribing metric the government said did not account for medical literature or clinical appropriateness.
- The government alleged Cerebral used financial incentives to push providers to meet prescribing metrics, and considered disciplinary measures for providers who did not prescribe enough stimulants to ADHD patients.
- Cerebral allegedly maintained thousands of duplicate patient accounts, and at least one patient is alleged to have received multiple stimulant prescriptions from different providers.
- Cerebral began remedial action in May 2022, including terminating its then-CEO, and stopped prescribing controlled substances altogether several months later.
- The non-prosecution agreement, announced November 4, 2024 by the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, required Cerebral to pay more than $3.6 million, with Cerebral's ability to pay an additional $2.9 million fine deferred because the company said it lacked the funds.
- DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said Cerebral's 'exploitation of telemedicine flexibilities deceived patients.' Cerebral said in a statement it was 'pleased' to have entered the agreement.
Why this case matters
Cerebral and Done Global show two different enforcement paths for closely related conduct. Cerebral avoided any criminal charge entirely, closing the matter with a civil fine and a non-prosecution agreement; Done Global’s two top executives were criminally charged, convicted and sent to prison for conduct the government has described in similar terms.
A fine the company said it could not fully pay
The government deferred an additional $2.9 million of the fine specifically because Cerebral said it lacked the ability to pay it, on top of the more than $3.6 million it did pay, a detail that signals how financially strained the company already was by the time the agreement was reached.
The caveat
This was resolved through a non-prosecution agreement, not a criminal conviction. Cerebral did not admit criminal guilt, and the agreement’s own terms allow prosecutors to pursue criminal charges later only if Cerebral violates the agreement. No individual Cerebral executive or clinician is named as a defendant in this matter.
Sources
- Cerebral to pay $3.6M in DOJ, DEA settlement over controlled substance prescribing. Healthcare Dive. Accessed 2026-10-29. Supports: The more than $3.6 million payment, the additional $2.9 million deferred fine, the non-prosecution agreement structure, the 2021 prescribing-metric changes, the financial incentives and disciplinary measures tied to prescribing volume, the duplicate patient accounts, the May 2022 remedial action and CEO termination, the November 2024 announcement date, and the quotes from DEA Administrator Anne Milgram and from Cerebral.