San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and other people remoted in their houses, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle remedy,” 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 “therapy kits,” regardless of the medication changing into more and more scarce. But Staley had a means of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors stated.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines had been available, this physician sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical occupation.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to folks 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 “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought about demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an effective treatment for covid and didn't forestall people from turning into sick.

In accordance with prosecutors, federal agents began looking 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 innovations at reasonably priced costs,” court documents show, and provided companies together with Botox, fat switch, hair removing and tattoo removal.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired about the treatment equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb treatment” that would preserve someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, according to court data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the secret agent, court paperwork present. “It’s exhausting to consider, it’s almost too good to be true. Nevertheless 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 medicine was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley said yes however qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” court docket information show.

Through the name, 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,” information 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 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 — sufficient for himself and five relations — for $4,000, in accordance with courtroom documents.

A Florida man obtained millions in coronavirus aid. He used it to purchase a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as certainly 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 in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in worry throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “As we speak, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a fast buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 tremendous and to present back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medication, a number of luggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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