San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and people remoted in their houses, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle treatment,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the medicine becoming more and more scarce. However Staley had a approach 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 supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were obtainable, this doctor sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your entire medical profession.”

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

How false hope spread about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the consequences that adopted

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting within the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement prompted demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those who needed it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient remedy for covid and did not forestall folks from turning into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal agents started looking into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class beauty improvements at affordable prices,” courtroom documents show, and offered services together with Botox, fats transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

The covid remedy kit came with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, information show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the therapy kit, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful treatment” that may maintain somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, based on courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the spy, courtroom paperwork present. “It’s laborious to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a remarkable medical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the treatment was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley mentioned yes however certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court records show.

Through the call, Staley additionally told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records show, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “sweet 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 variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five relations — for $4,000, based on courtroom documents.

A Florida man acquired millions in coronavirus help. 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 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 agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right this moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as 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 superb and to offer 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 handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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