San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and other people isolated of their houses, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle treatment,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

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

Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in jail and a year of dwelling confinement for the scheme. He pleaded guilty final yr.

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines were accessible, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman said in a news release. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of all the medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional did not immediately respond to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning in the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement prompted demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those who needed it for non-covid well being issues. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an effective therapy for covid and did not prevent people from turning into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal agents began trying into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class beauty innovations at inexpensive costs,” court paperwork present, and supplied companies together with Botox, fats switch, hair removal and tattoo removing.

The covid remedy package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra price), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, data show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the therapy equipment, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful remedy” that may hold somebody immune from covid for no less than six weeks, in accordance with court docket data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the spy, court docket documents show. “It’s onerous to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a remarkable medical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after an individual takes the drug.

When asked by the agent whether the medicine was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley mentioned sure but qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” courtroom information show.

During the call, Staley also advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “obtained 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five relations — for $4,000, in line with court docket paperwork.

A Florida man received thousands and thousands in coronavirus help. 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 agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as one among his employees 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 offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in concern throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At present, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a rip-off to make a fast buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 high-quality and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s package. He additionally needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, a number of bags of empty pill capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

Based on records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a court docket order.