San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” regardless of the remedy turning into 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 language supplier, prosecutors said.

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

“On the top of the pandemic, before vaccines had been accessible, this doctor sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman said in a information launch. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of all the medical profession.”

Staley’s legal professional didn't instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with 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 brought on demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is just not an effective therapy for covid and didn't forestall folks from turning into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal brokers started trying into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty innovations at reasonably priced prices,” court documents show, and offered services together with Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

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 medicines, data show.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the remedy package, 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 “amazing remedy” that will hold somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, based on court information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the spy, court documents show. “It’s arduous to imagine, it’s virtually too good to be true. But it surely’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the remedy was a “assured” treatment for covid, Staley stated yes but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” courtroom data show.

Throughout the name, Staley also told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “got the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records present, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “candy 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 versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, according to court documents.

A Florida man received hundreds of thousands in coronavirus help. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded responsible in July 2021. As a part of his plea settlement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as one in every of his staff 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 brokers throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “At this time, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as 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 present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s package. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical drugs, multiple bags of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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