Digital health founder sentenced in $90M Adderall scheme; dementia will cost U.S. $818 billion in 2026; food safety for cookout season — Morning Medical Update

Digital health company founder sentenced in $90M Adderall scheme

Done's founder and former clinical president distributed more than 37 million Adderall pills through a subscription telehealth platform, prosecutors said.

Ruthia He, founder and former CEO of digital mental health company Done Global Inc., was sentenced to six years in prison and fined $1 million for a scheme that used the company's telehealth platform to unlawfully distribute more than 37 million Adderall pills and defraud insurers, the Justice Department said. David Brody, Done's former clinical president, was sentenced to two years and fined $1 million.

Prosecutors said the company ran a subscription-for-prescription model that paid clinicians up to $60,000 a month to authorize stimulant prescriptions, some signed in as little as 30 seconds, and used an auto-refill feature that let prescriptions continue with little or no follow-up. Medicare, Medicaid and commercial insurers paid more than $12.3 million on fraudulent claims. He and Brody were convicted in November 2025 of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy to commit health care fraud; He was also convicted of obstruction after moving operations and assets to China and deleting evidence during the investigation.

Dementia to cost U.S. $818 billion in 2026

Unpaid caregiving and diminished quality of life account for most of the toll, a USC-led study finds.

Alzheimer's disease and related dementias will cost the United States an estimated $818 billion in 2026, according to a USC-led study published June 24 in Alzheimer's & Dementia. The estimate, from the federally funded U.S. Cost of Dementia Project, accounts for costs other tallies often miss, including diminished quality of life, forgone earnings and unpaid care by family and friends.

About 5.7 million Americans are living with dementia this year, and reduced quality of life among them is the single largest cost at $320 billion. Roughly 5.2 million people, many in their prime working years, provide 6.8 billion hours of unpaid care valued at $237 billion, while medical and long-term care totals $222 billion, with Medicare and Medicaid covering about 70%.

The estimates can help "guide decisions about how to allocate resources as the dementia population is set to grow substantially," said lead researcher Julie Zissimopoulos, Ph.D.

Food safety for cookout season

A pediatric refresher on keeping summer picnics, cookouts and beach meals food-safe.

Food-poisoning cases tend to climb in warmer months as meals move outdoors, and children younger than 5 face a higher risk of serious illness, according to a summer food-safety guide from Contemporary Pediatrics, a sister publication of Medical Economics. Drawing on American Academy of Pediatrics guidance, the refresher lays out a four-step framework of clean, separate, cook and chill.

Among the numbers worth passing to families: keep cold food below 40°F and hot food at or above 140°F, cook poultry to 165°F and ground meats to 160°F, and don't let food sit in the 40–140°F "danger zone" longer than two hours, or one hour when it's above 90°F outside.

Pregnant patients, older adults and immunocompromised individuals are also at higher risk, and the guide notes no evidence of avian flu transmission from properly handled, fully cooked poultry or beef, while raw milk and raw-milk cheeses are not recommended.