San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and folks remoted of their properties, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle cure,” based on 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,” despite the treatment changing into increasingly scarce. However Staley had a manner of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors said.

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

“On the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines had been accessible, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical profession.”

Staley’s attorney did not instantly respond to requests for remark late Monday.

How false hope unfold 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 deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning in the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement prompted demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health issues. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an effective remedy for covid and didn't prevent folks from becoming sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced costs,” court docket documents show, and supplied providers together with Botox, fats transfer, hair removal and tattoo elimination.

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

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the therapy equipment, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful remedy” that will hold someone immune from covid for no less than six weeks, based on court docket records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, courtroom documents show. “It’s arduous to believe, it’s nearly too good to be true. However it’s a exceptional medical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the medication was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley said yes however qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” court data show.

Through the name, Staley also advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired the last 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 enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later supplied the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, based on courtroom paperwork.

A Florida man acquired thousands and thousands in coronavirus aid. 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 agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as one among 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 brokers through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry throughout a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “At this time, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a scam to make a fast buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 superb and to present back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical drugs, multiple bags of empty tablet capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

In response to records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been quickly suspended by a court order.