Telehealth Startup Cerebral to Stop Prescribing Adderall for New Patients

The company’s decision comes after its preferred pharmacy, Truepill Inc., said it would stop filling stimulant prescriptions such as Adderall.

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that some of the nation’s largest pharmacies had blocked or delayed prescriptions over the past year from clinicians working for telehealth startups seeking to treat ADHD with stimulants. In certain cases, the pharmacies have expressed concerns that Cerebral clinicians were writing too many prescriptions for Adderall and other stimulants, according to people familiar with the issue.

Cerebral said at the time that its prescriptions had been temporarily delayed by pharmacies because of “confusion around today’s telehealth policies.” The company has said it doesn’t pressure clinicians to prescribe Adderall.

In a separate email sent to clinicians, Cerebral Chief Medical Officer David Mou wrote that the company would continue to prescribe controlled substances for other conditions. Other controlled substances the company prescribes include benzodiazepines to treat anxiety. It will also continue to treat existing ADHD patients with stimulants, Dr. Mou wrote.

In his note, Mr. Robertson cited “an influx of feedback from the market.” He also wrote that the company recognizes “mistakes” that it has made with respect to its advertising on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook and that the company formed a clinical review committee in response.

“Cerebral clinicians take the practice of prescribing medication, especially controlled substances, very seriously,” Mr Robertson wrote in his email.

In his note, Dr. Mou cited “feedback from the press” related to the company’s ADHD treatment, calling it a distraction.

In March, the Journal reported that some nurse practitioners at Cerebral said they felt pressured to prescribe stimulants such as Adderall and said the company’s 30-minute evaluations aren’t long enough to properly diagnose ADHD.

“We do not pressure our clinicians and have not disciplined, reprimanded or dismissed a clinician for not prescribing medications,” Cerebral said in a written statement. “We have a multistep approach to assessing our clients and provide our clinicians with the support to make the best decisions on behalf of their patients.”

Write to Rolfe Winkler at rolfe.winkler@wsj.com