San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and folks isolated of their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle remedy,” based on prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” despite the medicine becoming increasingly scarce. But Staley had a approach of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors said.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, before vaccines had been out there, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of your complete medical career.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting within the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement prompted demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health issues. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine isn't an effective remedy for covid and didn't stop people from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started looking into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at inexpensive prices,” court paperwork show, and provided services together with Botox, fat switch, hair removing and tattoo elimination.

The covid therapy kit came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra payment), 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 about the treatment kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing cure” that may hold somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to court docket information.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the secret agent, court paperwork present. “It’s onerous to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it’s a exceptional clinical phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether or not the medicine was a “guaranteed” cure for covid, Staley said sure however certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no ensures in life,” court docket data show.

In the course of the call, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “bought the last 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 provided the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, in response to court docket documents.

A Florida man received 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 additionally admitted to posing as one in all his employees 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 brokers in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 nice and to give back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, a number of bags of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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