San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and other people isolated of their homes, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle cure,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” regardless of the medication changing into more and more scarce. But Staley had a method of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines had been out there, this doctor sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman said in a information launch. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole medical career.”

Staley’s attorney did not instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to individuals 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 “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement prompted demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that needed it for non-covid health issues. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an efficient treatment for covid and didn't forestall individuals from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty improvements at inexpensive prices,” court paperwork show, and provided providers including Botox, fat switch, hair removal and tattoo removing.

The covid therapy kit came 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 drugs, records show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment package, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful treatment” that may keep somebody immune from covid for no less than six weeks, based on courtroom information.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the secret agent, court paperwork present. “It’s hard to believe, 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 an individual takes the drug.

When asked by the agent whether the medication was a “assured” treatment for covid, Staley said yes however qualified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court data present.

During the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “bought the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information show, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “candy 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 versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, based on courtroom paperwork.

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

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as considered one of his staff 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 during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “In the present day, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a 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 fantastic and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He additionally needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medicine, multiple baggage of empty tablet capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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