Digital psychological well being firm Cerebral is launching a brand new program geared toward treating opioid use dysfunction.
The startup stated customers will work with “licensed prescribers” to construct remedy plans, together with ones using drugs like Suboxone, which was developed to handle withdrawals and forestall overdoses. Members who be a part of this system may also entry digital counseling classes.
This system is now obtainable in Florida and can increase to different states within the coming months.
“As studies have constantly proven, opioid misuse continues to develop and now, greater than ever, individuals want entry to high-quality care that may tackle not simply the signs, however the causes of those critical points,” Cerebral Chief Medical Officer Dr. David Mou stated in an announcement.
“That’s one of many many causes we needed to start providing this service – to leverage our platform to deal with every particular person comprehensively and get them to efficiently stay with out dependancy.”
WHY IT MATTERS
The COVID-19 pandemic could have worsened an already dire opioid epidemic within the U.S. In accordance with CDC provisional knowledge launched in November, there have been greater than 100,000 overdose deaths within the U.S. throughout the yr ending April 2021.
The estimated overdose deaths from opioids rose to greater than 75,000 in comparison with greater than 56,000 the yr earlier than.
THE LARGER TREND
Digital psychological healthcare is a booming scientific space throughout the bigger digital well being area, and Cerebral is not any exception. In December, the startup introduced it had scored $300 million in fairness funding, bringing the corporate’s whole increase to $462 million.
Nevertheless, Cerebral has confronted unfavorable press within the months following its enormous funding spherical. A current investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek reported workers had too many sufferers on their plates and prescriptions had been pushed too aggressively on the expense of affected person care.
Forbes has additionally reported on Cerebral Instagram advertisements that had been pulled as a result of they violated the social media platform’s physique picture and consuming dysfunction insurance policies; buyer studies on difficulties receiving refunds from the startup; and staff who had been switched from wage to contract standing, risking their medical, imaginative and prescient and dental advantages.
Cerebral is not alone within the digital opioid remedy area. Ophelia, which can also be centered on offering medication-assisted remedy choices, introduced it had raised $50 million in December. In October, Workit Well being raised $118 million in Sequence C funding for its digital substance use dysfunction and dependancy care choices.
Pear Therapeutics, which just lately went public, makes an FDA-cleared prescription digital therapeutic referred to as reSET-O for opioid use dysfunction.
