San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and people isolated of their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle treatment,” in response to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the treatment turning into increasingly scarce. However Staley had a approach 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 language supplier, prosecutors said.

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

“On the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were accessible, this doctor sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a information launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your complete medical profession.”

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 results that adopted

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, starting in the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those who needed it for non-covid well being issues. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient treatment for covid and didn't forestall folks from becoming sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal agents started wanting into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced prices,” court docket paperwork present, and offered companies together with Botox, fats switch, hair removing and tattoo elimination.

The covid treatment equipment got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, data present.

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

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley said to the undercover agent, court documents present. “It’s hard to imagine, it’s almost too good to be true. However it’s a exceptional scientific phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether or not the remedy was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley said yes but qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court docket information present.

In the course of the call, Staley also told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “bought the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records 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 variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means 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 docket documents.

A Florida man obtained 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 one in every of his employees 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 in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated 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 quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 high quality and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s package. He additionally needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medication, a number of baggage of empty tablet capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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