San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and people isolated of their houses, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle cure,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” despite the treatment becoming increasingly scarce. But Staley had a method of getting it, he later told 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 jail and a 12 months of dwelling confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible last 12 months.

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines were out there, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the entire medical occupation.”

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

How false hope spread about hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 — and the consequences that adopted

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to people 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 “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement triggered demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine will not be an effective therapy for covid and did not stop folks from changing into sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence innovations at inexpensive prices,” court documents show, and provided providers together with Botox, fat switch, hair removing and tattoo removing.

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

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful remedy” that might keep somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in line with court information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, court docket paperwork show. “It’s exhausting to believe, it’s virtually too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after an individual takes the drug.

When asked by the agent whether or not the medicine was a “assured” treatment for covid, Staley said yes however certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” courtroom records present.

Through the name, Staley additionally told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “bought the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, in line with court docket documents.

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 responsible in July 2021. As part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as one among his workers 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 through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear throughout a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “As we speak, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 wonderful and to provide again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medicine, a number of luggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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