Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Justice (DOJ) was ramping up its focus on telehealth companies and prescribing practices for controlled substances.
The agency's recently launched investigation into mental health startup Cerebral represents a perfect storm of these two enforcement areas, according to a former federal prosecutor. And the DOJ likely won't stop there.
"I think we're going to see a lot of activity in the space," Miranda Hooker, a partner in the health sciences department at law firm Troutman Pepper, told Fierce Healthcare.
"I think we're going to see an increase in a lot of investigations and inquiries into services that are being provided via telehealth, including the prescription of controlled substances. I think it's one of many facets the government will be looking at to make sure that operations are compliant," said Hooker, who previously served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the healthcare fraud unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. As part of that unit, she was responsible for investigating and prosecuting Medicare and Medicaid fraud and violations of FDA laws and regulations, including allegations of off-label marketing and violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute.
Hooker has no involvement or knowledge of the DOJ investigation into Cerebral.
Cerebral is currently mired in a DOJ investigation into its prescribing practices and "possible violations" of the Controlled Substances Act. Last month,...
WASHINGTON (TNND) — FBI Director Kash Patel clashed with a Democratic lawmaker Tuesday during a Senate subcommittee budget hearing, forcefully denying allegations that he drinks excessively on the...