Misleading Ads Fueled Rapid Growth of Online Mental Health Companies

> LegitScript revoked its certification for Cerebral and Done this year, and the two companies face Justice Department investigations after the Journal reported that some clinicians felt pressured to prescribe stimulants. Patients and their families have said the companies prescribed medications that contributed to deaths. Both companies have denied pressuring clinicians and said they seek to make mental-health care accessible

When I was in a business class in undergrad, the prof one day showed us videos of bad slide deck presentations from former classes. In one of them, someone just outright said "we trick the customer into buying X" in the Q&A part of the presentation

Obviously it was a stupid thing to say, but it outlines the sort of cognitive dissonance that our economic system cultivates in people. You're supposed to trick people and lie to everyone (including yourself) about doing it. The truth isn't allowed because it's bad for the bottom line. Is this good for society?

Ever since the spotlight shone on the opioid crisis hedge funds and private equity firms have been searching for the next cow to milk.

The pain clinic networks they bankrolled turned out to be extremely profitable but now the heat is too great.

That cow has turned out to be mental health, sexual health, and telemedicine startups.

In addition to endless social media advertising I am willing to bet that in 2024-2025, about a decade after the outrage over pill mills became mainstream and about the amount of time it takes to develop a new drug, we are going to see a flood of new mental health prescription medications of dubious value because massive investments started in 2015 as pill mill startup funding decreased as part of a mission to find the new gold-egg-laying goose.

Always amusing is when you hear an ad on a podcast for one of these services and in the same ad they say they are hiring therapists as well. Comes off like they will just hire some random warm body to talk to you.