San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and people isolated of their properties, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle cure,” in accordance with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” regardless of the medication turning into increasingly scarce. However 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 provider, prosecutors stated.

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

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines had been obtainable, this physician sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical profession.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to people 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 caused demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health issues. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an efficient treatment for covid and didn't forestall individuals from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started wanting into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty innovations at reasonably priced costs,” court documents present, and offered services including Botox, fats transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

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

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired about the treatment kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb remedy” that may keep someone immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, in accordance with court information.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the secret agent, courtroom paperwork present. “It’s laborious to imagine, it’s almost too good to be true. But it surely’s a outstanding medical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the medication was a “assured” treatment for covid, Staley said sure but certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court records show.

Through the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records show, 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 controlled substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, in accordance with court documents.

A Florida man acquired hundreds of thousands in coronavirus assist. 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 one among his staff 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 in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At the moment, 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 high-quality and to provide back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He additionally needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medicine, a number of bags of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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