San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and people remoted of their properties, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle treatment,” in accordance with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the medication becoming more and more scarce. But Staley had a means 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 provider, prosecutors stated.

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

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines have been obtainable, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole medical career.”

Staley’s attorney didn't instantly respond to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat 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 prompted demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health issues. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is just not an efficient remedy for covid and didn't prevent people from changing into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers began trying into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class beauty improvements at inexpensive costs,” court paperwork present, and provided companies together with Botox, fats transfer, hair removal and tattoo elimination.

The covid remedy kit got here with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, records present.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the treatment kit, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing treatment” that will preserve somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to court docket data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley said to the undercover agent, court documents show. “It’s onerous to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it’s a remarkable medical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the medicine was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley mentioned sure but qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” courtroom information present.

Throughout the call, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data 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 offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, in keeping with courtroom documents.

A Florida man obtained hundreds of thousands in coronavirus assist. 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 in all 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 brokers in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said in a news release when Staley pleaded responsible. “At the moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a 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 tremendous and to provide back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He additionally had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medication, a number of luggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

According to information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been quickly suspended by a courtroom order.