San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and other people isolated of their homes, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle remedy,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” regardless of the remedy changing into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a method of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance 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 responsible final yr.

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines had been available, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional did not instantly reply to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to folks with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought on demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those that needed it for non-covid health issues. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine will not be an efficient remedy for covid and did not stop people from becoming sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started trying into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at inexpensive costs,” court documents present, and offered providers including Botox, fats switch, hair removal and tattoo removing.

The covid therapy package 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 drugs, records present.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of many emails and inquired about the treatment kit, investigators stated. 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 might preserve someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, in response to courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the spy, courtroom documents present. “It’s hard to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it surely’s a remarkable medical phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether or not the medication was a “assured” treatment for covid, Staley said sure however certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” court records show.

During the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “got 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 sufficient to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five family members — for $4,000, in keeping with court paperwork.

A Florida man obtained millions in coronavirus support. He used it to buy 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 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 agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in concern during a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “In the present day, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a 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 effective and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He additionally had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medication, a number of luggage of empty tablet capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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