San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus spread and people isolated in their houses, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle treatment,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the treatment turning into more and more scarce. But Staley had a manner of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese provider, prosecutors stated.

Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in prison and a 12 months of house confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible last year.

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines had been available, this doctor sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in a news release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of your complete medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional did not instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

How false hope spread about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the consequences that adopted

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting in the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought on demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those who needed it for non-covid health issues. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for covid and did not prevent people from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers began trying into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence improvements at reasonably priced prices,” courtroom documents show, and provided providers including Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

The covid treatment package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, data show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the therapy kit, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing cure” that will hold someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, in accordance with court docket records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, courtroom documents present. “It’s laborious to consider, it’s almost too good to be true. But it surely’s a remarkable scientific phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “literally disappears in hours” after a person takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether or not the remedy was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley stated yes however qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” courtroom information present.

Through the call, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “got the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information present, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “candy potato extract.” He added that the powder was enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later provided the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, in accordance with courtroom documents.

A Florida man acquired hundreds of thousands in coronavirus support. He used it to purchase a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as certainly one of his workers to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors said. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed treatment for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Immediately, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 nice and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, multiple luggage of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

In accordance with records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been briefly suspended by a court docket order.