San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and folks isolated of their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle remedy,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” despite the remedy turning into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a method 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 said.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, before vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in a information release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical profession.”

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

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the implications that followed

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to folks 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 ultimately affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being issues. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient remedy for covid and did not forestall individuals from becoming sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal agents started trying into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at affordable prices,” court docket paperwork present, and offered companies including Botox, fat switch, hair removal and tattoo removing.

The covid treatment equipment came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, data present.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment package, 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 “superb remedy” that might preserve someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, in line with courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the secret agent, court docket paperwork present. “It’s laborious to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it’s a remarkable 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 mentioned sure but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no ensures in life,” court information present.

Throughout the name, Staley additionally instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “obtained the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, in keeping with court documents.

A Florida man obtained thousands and thousands 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 agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as one in all 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 during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in fear throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a information launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “Today, 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 wonderful and to give again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medicine, multiple luggage of empty pill capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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