TTA’s wintry roundup: UHG’s stock crash, buys/funding Sword Health, OpenEvidence, more; AI studies indicate caution, dodgy eMed, SVB’s 2025 healthcare investment roundup, Done Global convictions, more!

January 29, 2026 | by

29 January 2026   Happy New Year!

 

Editor Donna is (mostly) back and here’s a roundup of our articles over the past couple of weeks. News, including the Big Crash of UnitedHealth Group. Some big buys kicking off 2026. A couple of major analyses of AI studies and 2025 healthtech investment. Must Reads too!

Please feel free to comment and pass along. Let me know if this is worth it to you!

Chutes & Ladders: UnitedHealth’s disastrous day and industry portents; Sword Health buys Kaia for $285M and gains German entry, $250M Series D for OpenEvidence, Pomelo’s $92M Series C, NOCD buys Rebound Health

One-two punch: AI moves hard into clinical healthcare and consumer medical with OpenAI/ChatGPT and Claude for Healthcare debuts

AI failing–at present–to lower costs, grow revenue, improve efficiencies. Yet it’s full speed ahead: Deloitte, PwC surveys

Short takes: Owlet’s baby sleep survey, MediBioSense’s Infinity Watch, telehealth extensions move to Senate, EBG’s telemental laws app ’26 update, Done Global indicted with principals convicted

This week’s Must Read: a deep dive on football’s Tom Brady’s involvement with GLP-1 e-Rx eMed

2025 healthcare investment off 12% versus 2024, with AI nearly half: Silicon Valley Bank roundup (updated for Scheffel interview))

From our last Alert: Congratulations to James Batchelor MBE (Well Deserved!)

And a read with even more relevance now: Should free-falling UnitedHealth Group be broken up? Or break itself up to survive, before it becomes another GE? (updated) (See Chutes & Ladders above)

And on a personal note, the 40th anniversary of the Challenger explosion was yesterday. A short and personal remembrance on where I was and what I was doing that day is published here. 

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Donna Cusano, Editor In Chief
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Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

 

Short takes: Owlet’s baby sleep survey, MediBioSense’s Infinity Watch, telehealth extensions move to Senate, EBG’s telemental laws app ’26 update, Done Global indicted with principals convicted

January 24, 2026 | by | 1 Comment

Rounding up some current–and back–stories:

The January season for reports continues with Owlet’s newly released ‘Baby Sleep Report’. This surveyed data was generated via Owlet devices (Dream Sock, Dream Duo, and Dream Sight) from 1.2 million babies over 900 million hours of monitoring in 200 different geographic regions during 2025. The survey purpose was to research sleep patterns, trends, and developments affecting babies monitored from one to 18 months. One major finding was that baby night awakenings, that bane of life for nearly all parents, drop by 55% by about 9 months, and sleep patterns stabilize in the first six months. Other findings summarized in the release:

  • 80% of bedtime changes happen in the first six months
  • By 6–8 months, babies on average sleep nearly nine hours at a time
  • Biggest sleep and pulse rate changes happen in the first two months
  • Early high pulse rates are common and usually reflect age-typical patterns
  • Pulse rate remains higher during light sleep than deep sleep

The full report is available here.  

Doncaster, UK’s MediBioSense will be introducing in March the MBS Infinity Watch, which combines an Android-based smartwatch, smartphone, and medical wearable. We covered MBS and the CEO/founder Simon Beniston back in 2018 (!) when your Editor was doing consulting for an app security company partnering with MBS’ on their first product, VitalPatch. MBS products such as the VitalPatch are distributed in the UK, Europe, Saudi Arabia, South America, and Australia. Mr. Beniston’s latest update is on his LinkedIn post. An earlier update from Business Doncaster, a local publication, was published in October. They also achieved medical certification from the Saudi FDA (SFDA) for VitalPatch after a rigorous two-year (and nine month!) process.

The US House voted on Thursday’s (22 Jan) to send a ‘minibus’ bill containing several long-fought for telehealth extension/expansion provisions to the Senate. A ‘minibus’ combines several funding bills (versus a massive ‘omnibus’) in a multi-bill FY26 funding package released by the House Appropriations Committee earlier this week. With legislation related to the Departments of Labor, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education, Defense, and Transportation, it contains key provisions preserving telehealth including those not included in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. They are:

  • Extension of Medicare telehealth flexibilities through December 31, 2027.
  • Five-year extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home Program through September 30, 2030.
  • Extension of in-home cardiopulmonary rehabilitation flexibilities through January 1, 2028.
  • Enhancements to certain durable medical equipment (DME) requirements under Medicare.
  • Requirement that HHS issue guidance within one year on furnishing telehealth services to individuals with limited English proficiency.
  • Inclusion of virtual diabetes suppliers in the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program through December 31, 2029.

The American Telemedicine Association and ATA Action continue to track and lobby for the extensions. Release 20 Jan, 22 Jan.

Digital health law firm Epstein Becker Green (EBG) announced an update to their free Telemental Health Laws app. The app, available on the Apple App Store and Google Play, is a reference for state-specific laws and policies governing telehealth. This year’s issues include shifting Medicare rules, the gray areas of remote prescribing, and escalating compliance requirements. There’s also the continuing drama of the DEA’s kicking the can down the road, extending pandemic-era prescribing flexibilities to the end of the year versus finalizing a permanent framework for remote prescribing of controlled substances. EBG’s page with link to the app

Last, but not least, are the substantial Federal prison terms that teleprescriber Done Global’s two principals will be facing come 25 February–followed by the indictment of the company. Both founder/CEO Ruthia He and clinical president David Brody were convicted of six counts of illegal distribution of Adderall, a controlled substance, via Done’s telehealth operation, and the submission of false and fraudulent claims for reimbursement for Adderall and other stimulants. The cost? $100 million, as well as “clients’ substance abuse, addiction and, in some cases, overdose”. The fraud included deceptive social media, paying nurse practitioners to refill prescriptions without interaction, and auto-refilling. Both He and Brody were convicted by jury in November. The indictments date back to June 2024 [TTA 24 June, 3 July] and was the first Federal prosecution of criminal drug distribution related to telemedicine prescribing by a digital health company. In December, a Federal grand jury also returned an indictment against Done Global and Mindful Mental Wellness P.A. (MMW), a Florida company, for conspiracy to provide Done members with prescriptions for Adderall and other stimulants that were not issued for a legitimate medical purpose, in return for a subscription fee. Done Global is charged with prescribing over 40 million pills of Adderall and other stimulants, and fraud of $100 million in revenue. Both trials and indictments are in San Francisco, Federal Northern District of California. Department of Justice releases 19 Nov, 17 Dec 2025.

US telehealth controlled substances prescribing waiver may expire at year’s end; DEA may further restrict

September 13, 2024 | by

Current waivers end 31 December without DEA, Congressional action. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) apparently through inaction, will allow the current virtual prescribing flexibilities impacting Schedule II and higher drugs to expire at the end of year. These waivers which removed the in-person examination requirement under the Ryan-Haight Act were instituted during the Covid pandemic and extended twice [TTA 11 Oct 23, 11 May 23] with a final expiration of 31 December 2024.

Reportedly, the DEA is not only wishing to reinstate the status quo ante, but also reportedly wants to institute additional restrictions. However, any draft rule that would reimpose or changes restrictions has not been put out for the public comment period, review, and final rule implementation which typically takes anywhere from 60 to 120 days, well past year’s end. Last year, when a draft rule was released for comment, nearly 40,000 comments were received.

At the time of the 2023 extension that kicked this particular can down the road into the end of a presidential election year, DEA had stated that they would use 2024 to finalize telemedicine prescribing rules, but no action has been taken. Since then, the Department of Justice has filed multiple charges of Medicare and Medicaid fraud and illegal distribution of controlled substances against seven Done Global employees [TTA 3 July and prior], with investigations pending on practices by provider Cerebral and pharmacy Truepill. 

Under the aegis of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), a coalition of 330+ organizations have again written as of Tuesday 10 September to the current administration and both houses of Congress to 1) extend the waivers for two years, as part of the end of the Federal fiscal year (starting 1 Oct) package, and 2) use the time for DEA to “to fulfill its congressional mandate to establish a special registration pathway that balances access to medically necessary care with appropriate enforcement.” The rationale centers on the lack of time, but strongly around the availability of psychiatrists throughout most of the US–there are none in half of US counties especially in rural areas. (The average MD psychiatrist is well over 50, nearing retirement, and not well reimbursed for his or her time–which is why med school grads in heavy debt don’t gravitate to the specialty.) What is not stated is that many if not most telepsychiatry providers do not have models that will support in-person evaluations as required without waivers.

There are no public actions or responses either by Congress or by the DEA as of today (13 September).

ATA press release, Biden Administration letter, House letter, Senate Leadership letter, Healthcare Dive

ATA Action, ATA’s trade organization and advocacy arm, has also formed a political action committee (PAC), ATA Action PAC. Its stated purpose is to support incumbent Federal candidates including Congressmembers who support their goals in virtual care policy. Candidates on the Federal or state levels will not receive support.  Release

Done Global Federal probe expands to five more people; company suspended from Google, TikTok ad platforms

July 3, 2024 | by

The first telemedicine prescribing Federal prosecution adds charges against five additional employees. The charges are similar to those for Ruthia He, the founder/CEO, and David Brody, listed as the clinical president of Done Global (Done)–providing easy online teleprescription access to Adderall and other Schedule II stimulants, skirting the normal restrictions provided in the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and other regulations [TTA 19 June].

These new charges center on an alleged scheme to defraud federal health care benefit programs including Medicare and Medicaid and are part of the Department of Justice’s 2024 National Health Care Fraud Enforcement Action.

Those charged are Riley Levy, 30, Done’s executive leader, operations and strategy; prescribers Christopher Lucchese, DO, 58; and nurse practitioners Yina Cruz, 37, Katrina Pratcher, 70, and Erin Kim, 54. Levy, Lucchese, Cruz, and Pratcher were charged in the Northern District of California (US Attorney’s office release). Erin Kim was charged in the Middle District of Florida (Case Summary). 

Prescribers were paid based on initial consultations–if they took place–then auto-refills without follow up. Prescribers are also charged with writing prescriptions where Adderall, for instance, was not medically necessary and issued to people who did not have ADHD. Follow up meetings were not compensated and frowned upon.

  • Nurse-practitioner Erin Kim from Florida prescribed over 1.5 million pills since 2021 and earned over $800,000. Done’s system with auto refills even prescribed to patients who had died. As of the end of May, her patient roster was still over 1,100.
  • Nurse-practitioner Yina Cruz from New Jersey made about $20,000 a month prescribing primarily stimulants to 2,300 patients, according to a 2022 interview with The Wall Street Journal. She renewed prescriptions based on forms patients filled out online, sometimes as fast as two renewals a minute. 

Done didn’t respond to a request for comment from the WSJ. A spokesman for the founder, Ruthia He, said she hasn’t entered a plea. The senior doctor, David Brody, has pleaded not guilty. Done maintains a statement on its website of disagreement with the charges and continuance of normal operations.

Done Global knocked off of TikTok and Google ad services–but not Meta. In 2022, Done lost certification by LegitScript, a clearance service for telehealth companies. Advertising continued on Google, Meta, and TikTok into June. Last week, Google and TikTok told the WSJ that Done was suspended. Advertising continues on Meta (Facebook) as long as the ads promote a service, not prescription drugs. The numbers in a suffering online ad market aren’t small, either. Done spent $7 million on Meta ads since November 2022, $20 million on Google, and about $3 million on TikTok ads. based on documents reviewed by the WSJ. Wall Street Journal, The San Francisco Standard