Office of Public Affairs United States Sues Telehealth Providers and Executives for Unfair and Deceptive Conduct United States Department of Justice
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This is archived content from the US Department of Justice website The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function Please contact webmasterusdojgov if you have any questions about the archive site
ppThe Justice Department together with the Federal Trade Commission FTC today announced that the United States filed an amended complaint against telehealth company Cerebral Inc Cerebrals founder and former Chief Executive Officer Kyle Robertson former Cerebral executive Alex Martelli telehealth companies Zealthy Inc Gronk Inc and Bruno Health PA and an executive of those companies German Echeverry The government has settled its claims against Cerebral Inc The proposed stipulated order pending approval by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida would require Cerebral to cease misusing and improperly disclosing patient information misrepresenting its data privacy or security practices and misrepresenting its cancellation practices Upon issuance of the order Cerebral will also be required to pay approximately 5 million in consumer redress in addition to a civil penalty judgment of 10 million which is suspended to 2 million based on its limited ability to payppThe Justice Department continues to pursue relief arising from its claims against Robertson and Martelli as well as telehealth companies Zealthy Inc Gronk Inc and Bruno Health PA and their executive German EcheverryppThe Unlawful Conduct of Cerebral and Its ExecutivesppThe United States alleges that Cerebral and Robertson violated the Federal Trade Commission Act FTC Act the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act of 2018 the Opioid Act and the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act ROSCA in connection with their misuse of patients sensitive personal health information failure to keep that information private and secure and use of deceptive burdensome and convoluted cancellation practicesppAccording to the amended complaint which was filed on May 31 Cerebral and Robertson violated the FTC Act in two primary ways First the company failed to protect consumers sensitive health information when at Robertsons direction it intentionally deployed online tracking technologies across its website These tracking technologies collected and transmitted users information without users informed consent to third parties for business purposes such as targeted advertisements In doing so the company contravened its own express claims that its services were private or confidential and that it would not disclose user data to third parties without the users consentppSecond Cerebral and Robertson failed to safeguard consumers sensitive data from unauthorized disclosure despite claiming that the companys website offered secure services to do so Cerebrals deficient practices led to chronic data security breaches and repeated unauthorized disclosures of users sensitive health informationppThe amended complaint also alleges that Robertson and Martelli violated the FTC Act by causing Cerebral employees to falsely impersonate patients on online review sites post fictitious reviews praising the companys services and suppress authentic negative reviews of the company ppThe amended complaint further alleges that Cerebral and Robertson violated ROSCA by failing to clearly disclose material terms related to data privacy data security and cancellation before obtaining patients billing information by failing to obtain patients informed consent before billing them and by failing to provide consumers with simple mechanisms to cancel their Cerebral subscriptions As a result Cerebral obtained millions of dollars from consumers who unsuccessfully attempted to cancel their subscriptionsppFinally the amended complaint alleges that Cerebral Robertson and Martelli violated the Opioid Act by engaging in deceptive acts or practices with respect to substance use disorder treatment servicesppThe Unlawful Conduct of Zealthy Inc and Its ExecutivesppThe amended complaint further alleges that Robertson continued to violate the FTC Act and ROSCA after he left Cerebral In May 2022 Robertson founded another telehealth company Zealthy Inc later renamed Gronk Inc which he heads alongside German Echeverry its Medical Director According to the Amended Complaint through Zealthy and its affiliated medical corporation Bruno Health Robertson and Echeverry violated ROSCA by failing to clearly disclose material terms of online subscriptions before obtaining consumers billing information by failing to obtain consumers express informed consent to those terms before charging their credit cards and by failing to provide consumers with a simple cancellation process to stop recurring charges The government also alleges that Zealthy and its executives violated the FTC Act by committing unfair and deceptive business practices Such practices include billing consumers for costs they did not knowingly agree to misleading consumers about the terms of their telehealth subscriptions disregarding consumers cancellation requests and making it challenging for consumers to cancel and tracking collecting disclosing and using consumers sensitive personal data in ways that were not fully disclosed to consumers and that consumers did not knowingly authorizeppThe department will continue to pursue civil penalties injunctive relief and monetary relief against Robertson Martelli Echeverry Bruno Health and ZealthyppThe Justice Department is committed to stopping companies and their executives from mishandling and misusing individuals sensitive personal health information and from implementing predatory billing practices said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M Boynton head of the Justice Departments Civil Division Consumers who turn to telehealth companies for treatment expect that their sensitive health information will be handled with great care and that companies will abide by the representations they have made rather than flouting their stated policies for the sake of profits and growth This case reflects the departments commitment to making sure that telehealth companies follow the law and safeguard the rights of those who seek treatment from them We will continue to work with the FTC to vigorously enforce the FTC Act the Opioid Act and ROSCAppCompanies shouldnt take shortcuts on privacy or security or hinder patients from cancelling services they no longer want said Director Samuel Levine of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection By continuing this case against the companys former CEO the government demonstrates its commitment to seeing that executives are held accountable for their misconductppTrial Attorneys Shana C Priore Joshua A Fowkes Francisco L Unger and Amber M Charles of the Civil Divisions Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant US Attorney Rosaline Chan in conjunction with staff at the FTCs Division of Enforcement are prosecuting the caseppFor more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts visit wwwjusticegovcivilconsumerprotectionbranch For more information about the FTC visit wwwFTCgovppThe claims made in the amended complaint are allegations that if the case were to proceed to trial the government must prove by a preponderance of the evidenceppOffice of Public AffairsUS Department of Justice950 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington DC 20530ppOffice of Public Affairs Direct Line2025142007ppDepartment of Justice Main Switchboard2025142000ppSignup for Email UpdatesSocial MediappppHave a question about Government Servicesp
Official websites use gov
A gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States
pp
Secure gov websites use HTTPS
A lock
Lock
Locked padlock
or https means youve safely connected to the gov website Share sensitive information only on official secure websites
pp
This is archived content from the US Department of Justice website The information here may be outdated and links may no longer function Please contact webmasterusdojgov if you have any questions about the archive site
ppThe Justice Department together with the Federal Trade Commission FTC today announced that the United States filed an amended complaint against telehealth company Cerebral Inc Cerebrals founder and former Chief Executive Officer Kyle Robertson former Cerebral executive Alex Martelli telehealth companies Zealthy Inc Gronk Inc and Bruno Health PA and an executive of those companies German Echeverry The government has settled its claims against Cerebral Inc The proposed stipulated order pending approval by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida would require Cerebral to cease misusing and improperly disclosing patient information misrepresenting its data privacy or security practices and misrepresenting its cancellation practices Upon issuance of the order Cerebral will also be required to pay approximately 5 million in consumer redress in addition to a civil penalty judgment of 10 million which is suspended to 2 million based on its limited ability to payppThe Justice Department continues to pursue relief arising from its claims against Robertson and Martelli as well as telehealth companies Zealthy Inc Gronk Inc and Bruno Health PA and their executive German EcheverryppThe Unlawful Conduct of Cerebral and Its ExecutivesppThe United States alleges that Cerebral and Robertson violated the Federal Trade Commission Act FTC Act the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act of 2018 the Opioid Act and the Restore Online Shoppers Confidence Act ROSCA in connection with their misuse of patients sensitive personal health information failure to keep that information private and secure and use of deceptive burdensome and convoluted cancellation practicesppAccording to the amended complaint which was filed on May 31 Cerebral and Robertson violated the FTC Act in two primary ways First the company failed to protect consumers sensitive health information when at Robertsons direction it intentionally deployed online tracking technologies across its website These tracking technologies collected and transmitted users information without users informed consent to third parties for business purposes such as targeted advertisements In doing so the company contravened its own express claims that its services were private or confidential and that it would not disclose user data to third parties without the users consentppSecond Cerebral and Robertson failed to safeguard consumers sensitive data from unauthorized disclosure despite claiming that the companys website offered secure services to do so Cerebrals deficient practices led to chronic data security breaches and repeated unauthorized disclosures of users sensitive health informationppThe amended complaint also alleges that Robertson and Martelli violated the FTC Act by causing Cerebral employees to falsely impersonate patients on online review sites post fictitious reviews praising the companys services and suppress authentic negative reviews of the company ppThe amended complaint further alleges that Cerebral and Robertson violated ROSCA by failing to clearly disclose material terms related to data privacy data security and cancellation before obtaining patients billing information by failing to obtain patients informed consent before billing them and by failing to provide consumers with simple mechanisms to cancel their Cerebral subscriptions As a result Cerebral obtained millions of dollars from consumers who unsuccessfully attempted to cancel their subscriptionsppFinally the amended complaint alleges that Cerebral Robertson and Martelli violated the Opioid Act by engaging in deceptive acts or practices with respect to substance use disorder treatment servicesppThe Unlawful Conduct of Zealthy Inc and Its ExecutivesppThe amended complaint further alleges that Robertson continued to violate the FTC Act and ROSCA after he left Cerebral In May 2022 Robertson founded another telehealth company Zealthy Inc later renamed Gronk Inc which he heads alongside German Echeverry its Medical Director According to the Amended Complaint through Zealthy and its affiliated medical corporation Bruno Health Robertson and Echeverry violated ROSCA by failing to clearly disclose material terms of online subscriptions before obtaining consumers billing information by failing to obtain consumers express informed consent to those terms before charging their credit cards and by failing to provide consumers with a simple cancellation process to stop recurring charges The government also alleges that Zealthy and its executives violated the FTC Act by committing unfair and deceptive business practices Such practices include billing consumers for costs they did not knowingly agree to misleading consumers about the terms of their telehealth subscriptions disregarding consumers cancellation requests and making it challenging for consumers to cancel and tracking collecting disclosing and using consumers sensitive personal data in ways that were not fully disclosed to consumers and that consumers did not knowingly authorizeppThe department will continue to pursue civil penalties injunctive relief and monetary relief against Robertson Martelli Echeverry Bruno Health and ZealthyppThe Justice Department is committed to stopping companies and their executives from mishandling and misusing individuals sensitive personal health information and from implementing predatory billing practices said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M Boynton head of the Justice Departments Civil Division Consumers who turn to telehealth companies for treatment expect that their sensitive health information will be handled with great care and that companies will abide by the representations they have made rather than flouting their stated policies for the sake of profits and growth This case reflects the departments commitment to making sure that telehealth companies follow the law and safeguard the rights of those who seek treatment from them We will continue to work with the FTC to vigorously enforce the FTC Act the Opioid Act and ROSCAppCompanies shouldnt take shortcuts on privacy or security or hinder patients from cancelling services they no longer want said Director Samuel Levine of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection By continuing this case against the companys former CEO the government demonstrates its commitment to seeing that executives are held accountable for their misconductppTrial Attorneys Shana C Priore Joshua A Fowkes Francisco L Unger and Amber M Charles of the Civil Divisions Consumer Protection Branch and Assistant US Attorney Rosaline Chan in conjunction with staff at the FTCs Division of Enforcement are prosecuting the caseppFor more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts visit wwwjusticegovcivilconsumerprotectionbranch For more information about the FTC visit wwwFTCgovppThe claims made in the amended complaint are allegations that if the case were to proceed to trial the government must prove by a preponderance of the evidenceppOffice of Public AffairsUS Department of Justice950 Pennsylvania Avenue NWWashington DC 20530ppOffice of Public Affairs Direct Line2025142007ppDepartment of Justice Main Switchboard2025142000ppSignup for Email UpdatesSocial MediappppHave a question about Government Servicesp
