San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” despite the medication changing into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a approach of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines had been out there, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a news launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole medical career.”

Staley’s attorney did not immediately reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually 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 triggered demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective remedy for covid and didn't forestall individuals from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal agents started wanting into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty innovations at inexpensive prices,” courtroom documents show, and supplied providers together with Botox, fats switch, hair elimination and tattoo elimination.

The covid treatment equipment got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, records present.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the treatment equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb remedy” that would hold somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to court records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, courtroom paperwork show. “It’s hard to consider, it’s almost too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a remarkable clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the treatment was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley mentioned sure but qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no ensures in life,” courtroom information show.

In the course of the name, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information 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 versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, in response to court documents.

A Florida man acquired millions 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 settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as certainly one of 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 agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “As we speak, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 nice and to give again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical drugs, a number of bags of empty capsule capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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