San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

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

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were obtainable, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a information launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of your complete medical career.”

Staley’s lawyer did not instantly reply to requests for remark late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the results that followed

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning in the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought about demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health issues. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for covid and didn't stop folks from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started looking into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class magnificence improvements at affordable costs,” courtroom documents show, and supplied companies together with Botox, fat switch, hair elimination and tattoo elimination.

The covid treatment package came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra price), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, data show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired about the treatment 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 treatment” that would preserve someone immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, in accordance with court information.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the secret agent, court documents present. “It’s onerous to consider, it’s almost too good to be true. But it’s a remarkable medical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the remedy was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley stated yes however certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” courtroom records present.

Throughout the name, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “obtained the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data show, 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 offered 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 mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, according to court documents.

A Florida man obtained hundreds of thousands in coronavirus help. 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 also admitted to posing as one in all 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 brokers through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At the moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and to present back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, multiple luggage of empty pill capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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