Doctor behind controversial online ADHD clinic agrees not to practise medicine amid complaints

A DOCTOR WHO set up a private online ADHD assessment clinic has given an undertaking to the Irish Medical Council that he will not practise medicine while a complaints process is under way.

A report by The Journal Investigates in April 2026 revealed Dr Joe McAndrew-Lima’s Cloud Clinic was dealing with significant complaints from patients about delays in their care that left them paying hundreds of euros to switch providers.

There is now a condition attached to McAndrew-Lima’s registration with the regulatory body which states that he has agreed “not to engage in the practice of medicine”. 

A practitioner giving an undertaking to the Irish Medical Council not to practise can resolve a regulatory or fitness-to-practise concern without formal suspension or cancellation of their registration. It does not, in itself, mean that the practitioner has been found guilty of professional misconduct, and may bring the regulatory process to an end subject to compliance with the undertaking. This is distinct from mediation.

In McAndrew-Lima’s case, the undertaking comes with the condition that Cloud Clinic will facilitate the “prompt release of Cloud Clinic patient records to any nominated medical practitioner or the relevant patient if requested”.

In the restriction noted on his registration entry, the Medical Council also added that past patients of Cloud Clinic should seek out their GP or transfer to another service for further ADHD treatment.

Cloud Clinic, which was addressed to an office in Dublin but only offered online psychiatric services, no longer has an active website. 

A spokesperson for the Medical Council of Ireland told The Journal that it cannot comment on the particulars of complaints it receives. 

They added that Dr McAndrew Lima has undertaken not to practice medicine “pending the conclusion of the complaint process… or until he is released from such an undertaking by the medical council”. 

They added that this undertaking means that he must cease providing medical advice, cease treating patients, and cease all prescribing functions. It’s not known how long the completion of the complaints process will take.

Earlier this year

When investigating Cloud Clinic this year, The Journal Investigates spoke to patients who believed the specialist himself was “really good” to deal with in the assessment process but the “chaotic” administration of the clinic left them rationing medication because of prescription delays, and facing financial losses. 

Patients also said they were prescribed Tyvense, a lisdexamfetamine-based stimulant that can have serious side effects, without providing information on their vitals for monitoring. One was 18 years old. Cloud Clinic told The Journal Investigates that patients were advised to monitor their vitals and submit them by email. 

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The clinic had also accused patients of running a “sabotage campaign” by using an online forum to discuss problems with their care at the end of 2025.

In correspondence sent to patients of the clinic, administrative staff claimed that McAndrew-Lima had experienced sleepless nights in his efforts to fulfil the requests of patients that the clinic had taken on.

At the time, Cloud Clinic spokesperson told The Journal Investigates that it was working through a backlog of patient requests as it had experienced unforeseen technical difficulties which it had worked to remedy. They denied any accusations of poor practice.

All four patients who spoke to The Journal said they initially turned to Cloud Clinic, one of the cheaper online providers to emerge in Ireland in recent years, because they could not access ADHD care through the HSE’s stretched services. 

A spokesperson for the practice told The Journal that it had treated over 500 people since it opened in 2024.

It charged people €950 for the full ADHD assessment pathway, which typically equates to between 1.5 and three hours of virtual contact time with a practitioner.

However, patients told The Journal Investigates that to speak to the clinic about delays in their medication or issues with accessing diagnosis documentation, they were told that they would have to pay €100 for a consultation session.

Additionally, multiple clients had to pay between €400 and €500 to have another provider take them on as they could not provide full diagnosis documentation.

Good outcome?

One past patient who spoke to The Journal said that she feels that it’s “not good enough” that the practice is now just closed, and that some public body should carry out an investigation into “what actually happened”.

“I’m out several hundred euros they’d promised to credit to my account as compensation for delays. I also spent €500 transferring to a new psychiatrist after months of no response from the Cloud Clinic. It was a really stressful time and the financial strain on top of that made it really difficult,” she said.

The former patient added that she had to “ration” medication when she was “ghosted” by Cloud Clinic, as she didn’t know when she’d get it next.

“Ex-patients are left with so many questions,” she added.

The Journal has reached out to McAndrew-Lima and the Medical Council for comment.