(Bloomberg) — Rite Aid Corp. pharmacies are no longer filling prescriptions for controlled substances like Adderall from clinicians working with mental telehealth startups Cerebral Inc. and Done.
The retail pharmacy chain, which has over 2,350 locations across the US, adopted the policy earlier this year, Rite Aid spokesperson Catherine Carter said in an email Thursday.
The halt means that many major US pharmacy companies, including CVS Health Corp. and Walmart Inc., have ceased filling controlled substance prescriptions from the two companies’ clinicians. The Wall Street Journal previously reported that some Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. locations had also stopped filling prescriptions for the companies.
“In light of Rite Aid’s decision, Cerebral is doing everything possible to ensure these patients get access to medications that their health care providers have determined they need,” said Dan Childs, an outside spokesman for Cerebral. A representative for Done didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cerebral and Done employ health professionals who see patients online and write prescriptions for conditions such as ADHD, also known as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Bloomberg previously reported on what some patients and employees said were too-loose practices around prescribing the drugs.
Cerebral is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York for possible violations of the Controlled Substances Act, and by the Federal Trade Commission for its business practices. The company hasn’t been accused to breaking the law, and has previously said it would cooperate with investigators.
Cerebral providers stopped prescribing most controlled substances to new patients in May and the company said they would stop writing these prescriptions for existing patients starting in October.
Walgreens, in a statement, said that it reviews prescriptions “to ensure they have been issued for a legitimate medical purpose.” It didn’t comment on whether it had banned controlled substance prescriptions from Cerebral or Done. “If a prescription presents red flags that cannot be resolved, our pharmacists will not fill it,” the company said.
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