San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and people isolated of their properties, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle cure,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the treatment turning into more and more scarce. However Staley had a manner of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines had been obtainable, this physician sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole medical profession.”

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

How false hope unfold 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 deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting in the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health issues. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine will not be an efficient treatment for covid and did not forestall people from turning into sick.

In keeping with prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at affordable prices,” court docket paperwork show, and offered providers including Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

The covid remedy kit got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry 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 many emails and inquired concerning the therapy equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb remedy” that would hold somebody immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, in keeping with court docket data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the secret agent, court paperwork show. “It’s arduous to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. However 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 remedy was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley mentioned sure but certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court records present.

In the course of the name, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “obtained the last 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 provided the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five relations — for $4,000, in accordance with court docket paperwork.

A Florida man acquired millions 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 settlement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as one among his staff 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 brokers through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “In the present day, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a scam 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 also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, multiple bags of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

In line with records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been briefly suspended by a court docket order.