San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the remedy turning into more and more scarce. However Staley had a way of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese provider, prosecutors stated.

Staley was sentenced final week to 30 days in prison and a yr of home confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible final 12 months.

“On the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of your complete medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional didn't immediately reply to requests for remark late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the implications that followed

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to people 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 “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought on demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those that needed it for non-covid health problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an efficient remedy for covid and did not stop people from changing into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers began wanting into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class beauty innovations at affordable costs,” court paperwork show, and offered services including Botox, fat switch, hair removal and tattoo elimination.

The covid remedy package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, data present.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired about the treatment kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb treatment” that may hold someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, according to courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the spy, court docket documents show. “It’s laborious to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a outstanding clinical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after a person takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether or not the medicine was a “assured” cure for covid, Staley stated sure however qualified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court docket data show.

Through the call, Staley also informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “acquired the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records present, 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, in accordance with court documents.

A Florida man obtained thousands and thousands 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 part of his plea agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as one among his employees 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 throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured cure for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in worry throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right now, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a quick buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 high quality and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s package. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, multiple luggage of empty pill capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

In accordance with information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a courtroom order.