San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus spread and other people isolated in their homes, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle treatment,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” despite the treatment turning into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a manner of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors mentioned.

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines had been out there, this physician sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the entire medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional didn't immediately reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

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, starting within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought about demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine will not be an effective therapy for covid and didn't forestall individuals from turning into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal brokers began looking into Staley after concerned clients alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced costs,” courtroom paperwork show, and provided services including Botox, fats transfer, hair removal and tattoo removal.

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

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the therapy equipment, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb cure” that would keep somebody immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, in keeping with court data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley said to the spy, court docket documents present. “It’s arduous to consider, it’s almost too good to be true. But it surely’s a remarkable scientific phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the treatment was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley mentioned sure but qualified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court information show.

Throughout the call, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired the last 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 enough 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 never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, based on court docket documents.

A Florida man received tens of millions in coronavirus assist. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded responsible in July 2021. As 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 mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry during a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Immediately, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a 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 fine and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medication, a number of luggage of empty pill capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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