San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the medicine turning into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a approach of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors mentioned.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been out there, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical occupation.”

Staley’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 — and the consequences that followed

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to people 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, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those that needed it for non-covid health problems. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine is just not an effective therapy for covid and didn't forestall people from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced costs,” court docket paperwork present, and supplied services together with Botox, fat switch, hair removing and tattoo removal.

The covid treatment package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, records show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired concerning the remedy equipment, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful treatment” that would preserve someone immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, in accordance with court docket data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, courtroom paperwork present. “It’s exhausting to imagine, it’s almost too good to be true. However it’s a exceptional medical 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 treatment was a “guaranteed” cure for covid, Staley said yes however certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court docket records show.

Through the name, Staley also told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “bought the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, in accordance with courtroom paperwork.

A Florida man obtained millions in coronavirus aid. 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 also admitted to posing as considered one of 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 during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in worry during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a news release when Staley pleaded responsible. “At present, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as 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 fine and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medication, a number of bags of empty tablet capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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