San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and other people isolated in their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle cure,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the remedy becoming more and more scarce. But Staley had a manner 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 language supplier, prosecutors mentioned.

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were accessible, this physician sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman stated in a news launch. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of the whole medical profession.”

Staley’s lawyer didn't instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

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 “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those who wanted it for non-covid well being issues. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient therapy for covid and did not forestall individuals from changing into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started trying into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class beauty improvements at affordable costs,” court documents show, and supplied services including Botox, fat transfer, hair removal and tattoo elimination.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the remedy package, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb cure” that may keep someone immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the secret agent, court docket documents present. “It’s laborious to imagine, it’s virtually too good to be true. But it surely’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the treatment was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley said yes however certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court records present.

Throughout the call, Staley also informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data show, 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 offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of by no means 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 line with court docket documents.

A Florida man obtained thousands and thousands in coronavirus aid. He used it to purchase a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As a part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as one in every 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 brokers through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a quick buck.”

As 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 family’s equipment. He also had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical drugs, multiple luggage of empty tablet capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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