San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the treatment turning into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a manner of getting it, he later instructed 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 last week to 30 days in jail and a yr of home confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible last year.

“On the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been accessible, this doctor sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman said in a information launch. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of all the medical profession.”

Staley’s attorney did not immediately reply to requests for comment late Monday.

How false hope spread about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the consequences 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 “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement induced demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those who needed it for non-covid health issues. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an effective remedy for covid and didn't forestall individuals from changing into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal agents began trying into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class magnificence improvements at reasonably priced prices,” courtroom paperwork show, and offered companies including Botox, fats transfer, hair removing and tattoo removing.

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 medicines, data show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the remedy equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb remedy” that will maintain somebody immune from covid for no less than six weeks, in response to court docket records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, courtroom documents present. “It’s hard to imagine, it’s almost too good to be true. But it’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether the medication was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley stated sure but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court data show.

During the call, Staley also advised 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 provided the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five family members — for $4,000, in response to court docket documents.

A Florida man obtained 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 staff 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 agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to folks gripped in worry during a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “In the present day, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as 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 provide back 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 medication, multiple bags of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

In line with information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a court order.