mental health
Inside Mindstrong's unraveling
Mental health tech startup Mindstrong generated instant buzz when it launched in 2017 with a plan to develop a "digital biomarker" that could analyze a person's typing and scrolling patterns on a smartphone to gain insight into their mental state. That pitch drew $160 million from Silicon Valley's top investors, such as General Catalyst and Optum Ventures. A star-studded executive team — including Tom Insel, Paul Dagum, and Rick Klausner — drew formidable research and tech talent from companies like Google.
But just a few years after the company began raising venture capital, Mindstrong's operations have all but unwound. What began as an innovative effort to build an entirely new tool for measuring mental health eventually became a run-of-the-mill counseling site. Now, the company plans to lay off most of its employees, shutter its office, and dismantle its therapy services.
I spoke to 10 former Mindstrong employees, including founders, data scientists, product designers, and clinicians, to examine what went wrong. Many of them had joined because they found the company's mission compelling. But they also felt intense pressure, including from investors, to commercialize a product they didn't think was ready. "A lot of that pressure fell on me, and I ended up spending way too much time on the road talking to people," Dagum told me. "That time should have been spent in the lab."
Those pressures — and how Mindstrong handled them — carry a warning for the rest of the mental health tech industry. Read my full investigation.
Finance
Even more layoffs at Cerebral
Management troubles facing mental health tech startups extend far beyond Mindstrong. Cerebral, the beleaguered online prescription company that dialed back prescriptions for controlled substances under federal scrutiny, is laying off another 15% of its workforce, Business Insider reports. The layoffs — the company's third round in less than a year — will affect about 285 employees and take place over several weeks.
As we've reported, Cerebral is one of many companies adjusting to rapidly evolving regulations, expectations from patients and investors, and clinical standards almost in real-time. In addition to a series of layoffs, Cerebral has also pivoted its business: Just last spring it said it would halt online prescriptions for some controlled substances including Adderall following a Justice Department investigation into its prescribing practices, though online prescriptions have long driven the company's rise to prominence.
Telehealth policy
DEA proposal restricts telemedicine prescribing
The Drug Enforcement Agency's move to again tighten prescribing regulations has drawn censure from telehealth lobbying groups including the American Telemedicine Association. The proposal would require in-person visits before patients could get virtual prescriptions for controlled substances like Adderall and medication used to treat opioid use disorder. Previously, those requirements had been waived due to pandemic-era regulatory flexibilities. The DEA's proposal is open for comment for the next month. (I also welcome your comments, including on how the proposal might affect patients.)
The rules are "significantly more restrictive than is warranted," ATA's public policy lead Kyle Zebley said, and risk leaving patients without access to critical mental health and substance use treatment. Foley & Lardner's Nathaniel Lacktman has a comprehensive explainer here.
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