San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and other people remoted of their houses, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle remedy,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the remedy turning into increasingly scarce. However Staley had a approach of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“At the top of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were out there, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the whole medical career.”

Staley’s lawyer did not instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the results 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, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement prompted demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those who needed it for non-covid well being issues. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient remedy for covid and did not prevent people from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers began trying into Staley after concerned clients alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty improvements at affordable costs,” courtroom documents present, and offered companies including Botox, fats switch, hair removal and tattoo removing.

The covid therapy equipment got here with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, information show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the therapy package, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb remedy” that will maintain somebody immune from covid for not less than six weeks, according to courtroom records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the spy, courtroom documents show. “It’s hard to consider, it’s virtually too good to be true. Nevertheless it’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 or not the medicine was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley said yes but qualified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no ensures in life,” court docket records show.

Throughout the call, Staley also informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “bought the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information present, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “sweet potato extract.” He added that the powder was enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later provided the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five relations — for $4,000, in line with court documents.

A Florida man received hundreds of 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 additionally admitted to posing as one in every of his workers to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors stated. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear throughout a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “Right this moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a fast 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 household’s kit. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medicine, a number of bags of empty tablet capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

Based on information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a courtroom order.