San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and folks isolated of their houses, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle cure,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

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

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

“On the top of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been obtainable, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the entire medical career.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to folks 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, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those who needed it for non-covid well being problems. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient treatment for covid and didn't prevent people from becoming sick.

In accordance with prosecutors, federal brokers began trying into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at inexpensive costs,” court docket documents present, and offered services including Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

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, data present.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of many emails and inquired about the treatment equipment, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb treatment” that may hold someone immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, according to court docket information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the secret agent, court docket documents show. “It’s hard to believe, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it’s a exceptional scientific phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the medication was a “guaranteed” cure for covid, Staley mentioned sure however certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” courtroom data show.

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

Staley later supplied the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, based on courtroom paperwork.

A Florida man received hundreds of thousands in coronavirus aid. He used it to purchase a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

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

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear throughout a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At this time, 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 superb and to provide again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He additionally needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical drugs, a number of bags of empty capsule capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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