Truepill CEO Sid Viswanathan.
Truepill
The DEA just put Truepill on notice that it may revoke its ability to fill controlled substances.
The agency alleges that the pharmacy startup unlawfully dispensed stimulants used to treat ADHD.
Truepill partnered with the mental-health startup Cerebral to send prescriptions to its patients.
The US Drug Enforcement Administration just put Truepill on notice that it may revoke its ability to fill controlled substances, citing allegations that the online pharmacy startup unlawfully dispensed stimulants used to treat ADHD, including Adderall.
The Order to Show Cause requires that Truepill show evidence to justify its prescribing practices for controlled substances, which are highly regulated drugs. If the evidence isn’t convincing, the pharmacy startup could have its DEA license revoked, which would leave the company unable to fill prescriptions for controlled substances.
It’s the first public signal that the DEA is paying attention to the rise of companies profiting from online prescriptions for controlled substances.
Truepill filled controlled medications for multiple online mental-health startups thatfaced scrutiny for providing easy access to such drugs, including Cerebral and Done. Truepill also created its own ADHD medication startup, called Ahead, before shutting it down in June 2022.
Truepill and Cerebral didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
In a December 15 press release, the DEA alleges Truepill filled more than 72,000 controlled substance prescriptions, many of which were for stimulants, between September 2020 and September 2022.
In “numerous instances,” the startup dispensed prescriptions that weren’t issued for a legitimate medical purpose, the DEA alleges. The DEA said an investigation also found that Truepill filled prescriptions that exceeded the 90-day supply limits, or that were written by prescribers who lacked licenses in the relevant states, the agency said.
Several pharmacies including Truepill and CVS moved to cease dispensing controlled-substance prescriptions from Cerebral, the mental-health startup under several federal investigations, in May.
The DEA’s December order is a sign that the agency isn’t just focused on the providers behind the risky prescriptions, but also the pharmacies that issued them.
“DEA will relentlessly pursue companies and pharmacies that seek to profit from unlawfully dispensing powerful and addictive controlled substances at the expense of the safety and health of the American people,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said in a statement.
“The men and women of the DEA remain committed to ensuring that every American can access essential medicines when they are lawfully prescribed and dispensed,” she added.