San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” despite the treatment changing into more and more scarce. But Staley had a means of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese provider, prosecutors said.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman stated in a news launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of all the medical career.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to people 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 “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought on demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an effective therapy for covid and didn't forestall folks from turning into sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class beauty innovations at reasonably priced prices,” court paperwork show, and offered services including Botox, fats switch, hair removal and tattoo elimination.

The covid therapy equipment got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra price), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, records present.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the remedy equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful treatment” that might preserve someone immune from covid for no less than six weeks, in response to courtroom records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley said to the undercover agent, courtroom documents present. “It’s hard to believe, it’s virtually too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a exceptional clinical phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether the remedy was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley said sure however qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court docket data show.

In the course of the call, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “acquired the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records present, 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 provided the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, in response to court docket paperwork.

A Florida man received tens of 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 a part of his plea agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as one in every of his employees 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 in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in concern throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right this moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a rip-off to make a quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 wonderful and to give back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medicine, multiple baggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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