Drug Startups Blasted For Using TikTok To Promote Anxiety Meds

Multiple drug startup companies are pushing ADHD medications such as Vicodin and Ritalin through TikTok, potentially starting a “new addiction crisis” among TikTokkers and young people online.

The New York Post reported various drug startup companies – such as Done, Ahead, and Cerebral – had started to using the popular social media platform to advertise ADHD medications such as Vicodin and Ritalin – which are also popular recreational and “study” drugs among tertiary students.

One of the TikTok ads from San Francisco based startup, Done showed a young woman swallowing a pill from a prescription bottle, while the accompanying caption read, “What it’s like to take ADHD medication.” The woman is then shown typing away on a computer while the new caption read “Focusing better”, “better time management”, and “less anxiety”.

Columbia University psychiatrist, Dr Ravi Shah, told New York Post Done’s TikTok ad was “blurring the line between medication for a clinical indication and a supplement to help improve performance”.

“The ad makes it seem as though this is what will happen if you take ADHD medications, but whether you actually have ADHD is not necessarily relevant,” he added.

Another San Francisco-based medical startup, Ahead, had also been advertised ADHD drugs through the hugely popular TikTok platform, with one video outlining an oversimplified process to receiving medications such as Adderall and Ritalin via three steps; fill out an online form, prescriptions delivered, appointments are online.

Child and adolescent psychology specialist, Dr. Yamalis Diaz, told The Post the specific method in which such medications were being advertised on TikTok was also dangerous.

He said the names of medications should never be paraded online, as it encourages people to specifically pursue them by name instead of seeking general treatment for their condition.

“That is a really, really thin line between advertising and almost baiting. Especially among younger patients, they have certain names in their mind,” he added.

Bloomberg recently published an exposé on another medication startup, Cerebral, which offers both therapy and medications for several mental health conditions, including ADHD and generalised anxiety disorder.

The Post reported that since Bloomberg’s article went live last Friday, Cerebral had pulled multiple TikTok ads which seemed to flaunt ADHD medications.

Bloomberg’s article also reportedly featured interviews with previous and current employees who said they were concerned Cerebral was being too forceful in its advertisements, and that its lack of follow-ups between healthcare professionals and patients (or, in this case, customers) could potentially lead to a “new addiction crisis”.

Yale School of Medicine professor, Yann Poncin told The Post seeing patients face-to-face is imperative before prescribing medications, especially potentially harmful ones such as Adderall, Vyvanse, Ritalin, and Vicodin.

“I for one would be rather uncomfortable with offering controlled substances to someone that I literally never saw and no one in my practice ever saw. It’s very concerning,” he said.

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Medication Startup TikTok