San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and people isolated in their properties, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle cure,” in response 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 “remedy kits,” regardless of the treatment changing into more and more scarce. But Staley had a approach of getting it, he later instructed 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 jail and a year of residence confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible final yr.

“At the height of the pandemic, before vaccines had been out there, this doctor sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the entire medical profession.”

Staley’s legal professional did not instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often 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 within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement caused demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that needed it for non-covid health problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an effective remedy for covid and didn't forestall individuals from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents started looking into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced prices,” court paperwork present, and offered services together with Botox, fats switch, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired about the treatment kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful treatment” that might maintain someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, in line with court data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the spy, court docket documents show. “It’s onerous to believe, it’s nearly too good to be true. But 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 or not the medication was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley said yes but certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” courtroom data present.

Throughout the call, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “got the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data show, 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite 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 court paperwork.

A Florida man received tens of millions in coronavirus aid. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

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

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to folks gripped in concern during a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a information launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “Immediately, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a fast 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 package. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical drugs, multiple luggage of empty tablet capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

In response to information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a courtroom order.