The Doctor Prescribes Video Games and Virtual Reality Rehab

Amid the country's growing substance abuse crisis, last year the FDA cleared reSET, a mobile app that tracks substance use, cravings, and social triggers to treat dependency on alcohol, cocaine, and cannabis. The FDA's clearance makes reSET one of the first prescription "digital therapeutics"--an emerging class of evidence-based interventions that are predominantly driven by software rather than drugs. Andy Coravos is is the CEO of Elektra Labs and a member of the Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science. Earlier this year, digital medicine company Akili Interactive announced that its video game for children with ADHD demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in a randomized, controlled clinical trial. That milestone paves the way for what could be the first prescription video game.