San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus spread and people isolated in their homes, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle remedy,” in accordance with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the medication becoming more and more scarce. But Staley had a method of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors mentioned.

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

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman stated in a information release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the entire medical profession.”

Staley’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to folks with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting within the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport 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 found that hydroxychloroquine is not an efficient therapy for covid and didn't forestall folks from turning into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started wanting into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty innovations at reasonably priced costs,” court docket documents show, and provided companies including Botox, fats switch, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

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

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment equipment, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful treatment” that would hold somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, in line with court information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the secret agent, court docket documents present. “It’s exhausting to consider, it’s almost too good to be true. But it’s a exceptional scientific phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the medication was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley mentioned sure but certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” court data present.

Through the name, Staley additionally told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “bought the final 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 offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five family members — for $4,000, based on court docket paperwork.

A Florida man acquired hundreds of 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 also admitted to posing as one in all 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 agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “At this time, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a 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 positive and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s package. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medicine, a number of luggage of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

In accordance with records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a courtroom order.