ENCORE: Mental Health Apps Struggle with PR Snafus

00:00
Speaker 1
Hey prime members, you can listen to business wars daily ad free on Amazon Music. Download the app today.

00:06
Speaker 2
Netsuite is the number one cloud financial system, streamlining accounting, financial management, inventory, HR and more. Head over to Netsuite.com Slash Bwdaily to learn more and download Netsuite's KPI checklist for free. Hey listeners, David here. Hope you're having a great new year this week. We're airing the first five episodes of last year.

00:32
Speaker 1
The idea here is to look back at the way things were at the.

00:34
Speaker 2
Beginning of 2023 before we kick off 2024. We'll be back next week with all new episodes.

00:41
Speaker 1
Enjoy. I'm David Brown and this is business wars daily on this January 13. Happy Friday, everybody. Some apps that connect patients with mental health providers must be hoping that this year is better than the last. It's true that the market for mental health apps is growing. It was valued at over $4 billion in 2021 and is primed to expand by 17% each year until 2030. The use of mental health apps exploded during the pandemic, when in person healthcare became harder to get. But that doesn't mean it's been an easy road for some of the apps, which have dealt with everything from minor pr snafus to downright scandals. The app cerebral had a bit of a rough year last year. It rang in 2020 with a valuation of $4.8 billion, and you could say things were looking up.

01:36
Speaker 1
But that was then, because cerebral became snarled by a number of public gaffes. In January, Instagram pulled ads from its platform that it said violated their policies. The ads were centered around ADHD and eating disorders. Then in May, the app announced it was halting prescriptions of ADHD medications for new patients. That was after a former executive filed a lawsuit claiming he was fired in retaliation for speaking up about the company's unethical business practices, according to Forbes. One of those unethical practices, according to the executive, over prescribing stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin in order to retain patients. That same month, the board fired Cerebral's founder and its chief executive. Then, the US Justice Department launched an investigation into Cerebral's prescribing practices. The company's president, Dr.

02:26
Speaker 1
David Moe, said he was confident that the investigation wouldn't reveal wrongdoings, but several patients who use the app have come forward to share their issues with it. One user signed up and got a prescription for her anxiety on the same day, but told CBS News that she then couldn't get in touch with a provider for nearly a week. When she took the medication, she broke out into a rash and had to go to the ER. They get you, she told CBS. And then they're gone. Things continued to get worse for the app as the year went on. Just last month, Olympian Simone Biles parted ways with cerebral she'd been serving as chief impact officer since late 2021 after famously pulling out of the Tokyo Olympics and coming forward about her own mental health struggles.

03:09
Speaker 1
That was a big loss for the company, which was one of several mental health organizations that courted Biels after Tokyo. It's not just cerebral that's struggling to maintain its image in the mental health world. Betterhelp, which pulled in $700 million in global revenue in 2021, found itself at the center of controversy late last year. It started, as many controversies do these days on TikTok. Users came forward to share their stories of the, quote, sketchy therapists they'd found through the app. It's not the first time betterhelp has been in hot water. In 2018, a social media uproar arose after it was revealed that the app was paying popular youtubers for each customer who signed up for Betterhelp. Using their unique links. Concerns arose about whether the youtubers were profiting off of viewers'mental health concerns.

03:56
Speaker 1
In a statement at the time, CEO alone Matas said that the allegations couldn't have been further from the truth. Mental health apps have shown promise for helping people access high quality care easily, and it's fair to say that for many users, the apps have delivered on that promise. But both cerebral and Betterhelp have to be hoping that 2023 comes with fewer obstacles than last year. From wondery, this is business wars daily. I'm your host, David Brown. Written and produced by Jessica Armasi. Our executive producers, Martina Rubio and Marshall. Hey prime members. You can listen to business wars daily ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. Or you can listen ad free with Wondery plus in Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at slash survey.

05:02
Speaker 2
Business wars Daily is supported by Netsuite. Your business is growing and the cracks are starting to emerge. Your teams are buried in manual work. You don't have one source of truth. Well, if this sounds like you should know these three numbers. 37,025 137 thousand. That's the number of businesses which have upgraded to Netsuite by Oracle 25. Netsuite turns 25 this year. That's 25 years of helping businesses do more with less, close their books in days, not weeks, and drive down costs and one because your business is one of a kind. So you get a customized solution for all of your KPIs in one efficient system with one source of truth. Manage risk, get reliable forecasts and improve margins. Everything you need to grow all in one place.

05:52
Speaker 2
Right now you can download Netsuite's popular KPI checklist, designed to give you consistently excellent performance absolutely free@netsuite.com. Bwdaily that's Netsuite.com bwdaily to get your own KPI checklist. Netsuite.com bwdaily.