San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and folks remoted in their homes, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle treatment,” in response to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

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

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines have been out there, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman said in a information launch. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of your entire medical profession.”

Staley’s lawyer did not instantly respond to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to people 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 “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought on demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those who wanted it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is just not an efficient therapy for covid and didn't prevent individuals from changing into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal brokers started wanting into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence improvements at inexpensive prices,” court docket documents present, and supplied companies together with Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

The covid remedy equipment got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, records show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment package, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful cure” that might preserve somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to court docket data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the secret agent, court paperwork present. “It’s hard to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a exceptional scientific phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the medication was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley mentioned yes but qualified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” court data present.

In the course of the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “got the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data 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 never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, in line with courtroom documents.

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

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

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear throughout a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a quick 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 equipment. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medication, multiple baggage of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

According to information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been briefly suspended by a court docket order.