San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and other people remoted in their properties, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle remedy,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the treatment changing into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a manner 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 mentioned.

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

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines had been out there, this physician sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the whole medical career.”

Staley’s attorney didn't immediately respond to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective remedy for covid and didn't stop individuals from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents started wanting into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced costs,” court docket paperwork present, and offered services including Botox, fat transfer, hair removing and tattoo elimination.

The covid therapy kit came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, records present.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired about the therapy package, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful cure” that will maintain somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, in accordance with court docket data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, courtroom paperwork present. “It’s laborious to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it surely’s a outstanding 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 remedy was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley mentioned sure however qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” courtroom data present.

In the course of the call, Staley additionally told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “obtained the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data present, 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 offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, according to court paperwork.

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

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded responsible in July 2021. As a part of his plea agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as one among his staff 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 offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed treatment for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in worry throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “In the present day, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as 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 effective and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medication, multiple baggage of empty tablet capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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