San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus spread and people remoted of their houses, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle treatment,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

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

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

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your entire medical profession.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to people 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 “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement prompted demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health issues. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine isn't an effective remedy for covid and did not forestall people from becoming sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal agents started trying into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty improvements at affordable costs,” courtroom documents present, and provided providers including Botox, fats transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired concerning the therapy kit, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful remedy” that may maintain someone immune from covid for at least six weeks, according to court records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, court paperwork present. “It’s arduous to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it surely’s a exceptional medical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after an individual takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether or not the medicine was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley stated sure however qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court data present.

During the call, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “received the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information present, 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 offered the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five family members — for $4,000, in keeping with court docket documents.

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

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea agreement, 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 mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal brokers throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in concern during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At the moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a rip-off to make a quick buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 positive and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s package. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medication, a number of bags of empty tablet capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

In response to data from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been quickly suspended by a court docket order.