San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” despite the treatment turning into increasingly scarce. However Staley had a manner of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He planned 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 year of home confinement for the scheme. He pleaded guilty last yr.

“On the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman said in a news release. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of your complete medical profession.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning in the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement induced demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health issues. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine isn't an effective remedy for covid and did not forestall individuals from changing into sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents began trying into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty improvements at affordable costs,” courtroom documents present, and supplied services together with Botox, fat switch, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

The covid therapy package came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, data show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired about the remedy equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful treatment” that might preserve somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in keeping with court docket records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the spy, court docket paperwork present. “It’s onerous to imagine, it’s virtually too good to be true. But it’s a exceptional medical phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether the remedy was a “assured” treatment for covid, Staley mentioned sure however qualified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court information present.

Through the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “received 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 enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, based on courtroom documents.

A Florida man acquired thousands and thousands in coronavirus assist. He used it to buy 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 considered 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 brokers through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry during a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “At the 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 nice and to present back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He also had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medication, multiple luggage of empty capsule capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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