San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” despite the remedy turning into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a approach of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors said.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, before vaccines had been available, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a news release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional didn't immediately reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat 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 prompted demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health issues. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient treatment for covid and didn't forestall people from turning into sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents began trying into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class magnificence innovations at inexpensive costs,” courtroom paperwork show, and offered services together with Botox, fats switch, hair removing and tattoo elimination.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired about the remedy package, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful remedy” that may hold someone immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, in accordance with courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the secret agent, court docket paperwork show. “It’s onerous to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it surely’s a exceptional scientific phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether or not the remedy was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley said yes but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” court docket records present.

In the course of the name, Staley also told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “bought 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 variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, in response to court docket documents.

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

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

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

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 nice and to offer back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s package. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medication, multiple bags of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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