San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and other people isolated of their homes, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle cure,” based on prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the treatment changing into increasingly scarce. However Staley had a manner of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese provider, prosecutors stated.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were out there, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a news launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the entire medical career.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement induced demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine isn't an efficient therapy for covid and didn't prevent individuals from turning into sick.

In accordance with prosecutors, federal brokers began wanting into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty improvements at affordable costs,” court documents present, and offered services including Botox, fat transfer, hair removal and tattoo removing.

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 drugs, information present.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the remedy equipment, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing cure” that might hold someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, according to court data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the spy, courtroom documents present. “It’s exhausting to believe, it’s virtually too good to be true. However it’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the medication was a “assured” treatment for covid, Staley mentioned sure however qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” courtroom data show.

Throughout the name, Staley also advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information present, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “sweet 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 stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, in accordance with courtroom documents.

A Florida man acquired millions in coronavirus help. He used it to purchase a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded responsible in July 2021. As part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as considered one of his staff 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 brokers during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in worry during a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a news release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Today, 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 fantastic and to give back 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, multiple luggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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