San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and other people remoted of their homes, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle cure,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

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

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines had been out there, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of the whole medical profession.”

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

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 — and the consequences that followed

Hydroxychloroquine is often 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 “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement caused demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health issues. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is just not an efficient treatment for covid and did not stop people from turning into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal agents started wanting into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class magnificence improvements at inexpensive costs,” court docket documents present, and provided services together with Botox, fats switch, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

The covid treatment package 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 drugs, records show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the treatment package, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing cure” that would keep someone immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, in line with court docket records.

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

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

When requested by the agent whether the remedy was a “guaranteed” cure for covid, Staley said sure however certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court docket data present.

Throughout the name, Staley additionally instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “got the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five family members — for $4,000, in line with court docket documents.

A Florida man acquired tens of 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 a part of his plea settlement, Staley also 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 through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry during a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Right this moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a fast buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 tremendous and to offer back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s package. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, multiple luggage of empty tablet capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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