San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and people isolated of their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle treatment,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” despite the medicine changing into more and more scarce. However Staley had a manner of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors mentioned.

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

“On the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been available, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of the complete medical profession.”

Staley’s attorney 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 followed

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to folks with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat 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 triggered demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those who needed it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine will not be an effective treatment for covid and did not stop folks from turning into sick.

In keeping with prosecutors, federal brokers began looking into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class beauty innovations at reasonably priced prices,” court paperwork show, and supplied services including Botox, fat switch, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

The covid therapy equipment came with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional price), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, information show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired concerning the remedy equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing treatment” that might maintain someone immune from covid for at least six weeks, in line with court docket records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley said to the secret agent, court documents show. “It’s onerous to imagine, it’s almost too good to be true. However it’s a exceptional medical phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether or not the treatment was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley stated sure however certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court records show.

Through the name, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “obtained the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records show, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “sweet potato extract.” He added that the powder was sufficient to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five relations — for $4,000, according to court docket documents.

A Florida man acquired thousands and 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 agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as certainly one of his workers to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal brokers through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Today, 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 fantastic and to provide again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, a number of bags of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

In line with data from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a court docket order.