San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and folks remoted in their properties, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle cure,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the medicine becoming increasingly scarce. But Staley had a means 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 said.

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

“At the top of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman stated in a news release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of all the medical occupation.”

Staley’s attorney 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 adopted

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to people 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 caused demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine isn't an efficient therapy for covid and didn't stop individuals from turning into sick.

According to prosecutors, federal brokers started trying into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty innovations at inexpensive prices,” courtroom documents show, and offered providers together with Botox, fat switch, hair removing and tattoo elimination.

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

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the treatment package, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing remedy” that may maintain someone immune from covid for at the least six weeks, in line with court docket data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the spy, court documents present. “It’s arduous to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. However it’s a outstanding scientific phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether the treatment was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley mentioned sure however certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” courtroom information show.

Through the call, Staley also informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “received 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 sufficient to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later offered the agent prescriptions for generic versions 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 relations — for $4,000, in response to court docket documents.

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

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As a part of his plea agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as one in every of his workers 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 throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a information launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At present, 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 give again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medication, multiple baggage of empty tablet capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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