San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and folks isolated in their homes, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle treatment,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the treatment becoming more and more scarce. However Staley had a approach of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“At the top of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were available, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a information release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of all the medical profession.”

Staley’s legal professional did not instantly respond to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often 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 in the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought about demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health issues. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an efficient remedy for covid and didn't stop individuals from becoming sick.

In keeping with prosecutors, federal brokers began looking into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class magnificence improvements at reasonably priced prices,” court paperwork show, and provided providers together with Botox, fats transfer, hair removal and tattoo elimination.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the therapy kit, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing remedy” that will keep someone immune from covid for at least six weeks, in line with court records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the undercover agent, court docket paperwork show. “It’s onerous to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. However it’s a exceptional clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the medicine was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley said sure however qualified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court data show.

Through the name, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated 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, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, in keeping with court documents.

A Florida man acquired tens of 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 workers 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 supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in fear during a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “At present, 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 provide again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical drugs, multiple bags of empty tablet capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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