San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus spread and folks remoted in their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle remedy,” in accordance 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 “remedy kits,” despite the medication becoming more and more scarce. But Staley had a manner of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors mentioned.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been out there, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your entire medical career.”

Staley’s lawyer didn't instantly respond to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an effective therapy for covid and didn't forestall folks from becoming sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal brokers began trying into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced prices,” court documents present, and provided providers including Botox, fats switch, hair removal and tattoo removing.

The covid treatment package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, data present.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the remedy kit, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb treatment” that might preserve someone immune from covid for at least six weeks, in accordance with court records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the spy, court docket paperwork show. “It’s arduous to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after a person takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether or not the medicine was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley said sure however certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no ensures in life,” courtroom records present.

Throughout the call, Staley also advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “obtained the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records present, 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 offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, according to court docket paperwork.

A Florida man acquired thousands and thousands in coronavirus help. 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 also admitted to posing as certainly one of his workers to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors said. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in concern throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right now, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as 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 wonderful and to present back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical drugs, a number of bags of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

Based on data from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been briefly suspended by a court docket order.