San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and other people isolated in their houses, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle remedy,” in response to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the medicine becoming more and more scarce. However Staley had a approach 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 stated.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, before vaccines have been out there, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a information launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the complete medical career.”

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

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

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, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement triggered demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those that needed it for non-covid health issues. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine isn't an efficient treatment for covid and didn't prevent individuals from changing into sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced costs,” courtroom paperwork present, and provided companies including Botox, fat switch, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

The covid therapy equipment came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, records show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired about the remedy package, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb cure” that might keep someone immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, in response to courtroom information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley said to the undercover agent, court documents present. “It’s laborious to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a exceptional 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 remedy was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley stated sure however qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are no ensures in life,” court docket information show.

In the course of the name, Staley also advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “acquired the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data present, 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 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 stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, in response to courtroom paperwork.

A Florida man acquired millions in coronavirus support. He used it to purchase a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as one in every of his workers 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 brokers throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in concern throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right now, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a rip-off to make a fast buck.”

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

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