San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the medication becoming increasingly scarce. But Staley had a means of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese language supplier, prosecutors mentioned.

Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in jail and a yr of home confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible last year.

“On the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been out there, this physician sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of the whole medical occupation.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually 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 caused demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those that needed it for non-covid health problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an efficient treatment for covid and didn't forestall individuals from turning into sick.

According to prosecutors, federal brokers started looking into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at inexpensive prices,” court docket documents present, and provided services including Botox, fat transfer, hair removing and tattoo removing.

The covid remedy package came with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, records show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired about the therapy equipment, 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 “superb cure” that might maintain someone immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, based on courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley said to the spy, courtroom documents show. “It’s exhausting to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. However 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 the medication was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley stated sure however qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” court docket information show.

Through the name, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “obtained the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information show, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “candy potato extract.” He added that the powder was enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five family members — for $4,000, in response to court paperwork.

A Florida man received thousands and thousands in coronavirus assist. 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 additionally admitted to posing as certainly 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 brokers in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in worry during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “At the moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a scam to make a fast buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 superb and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He additionally needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, multiple baggage of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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