San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus spread and folks isolated of their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle cure,” in accordance with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” regardless of the treatment turning into increasingly scarce. However Staley had a means of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, before vaccines had been accessible, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole medical occupation.”

Staley’s attorney didn't instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

How false hope spread about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the consequences 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 “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought about demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that needed it for non-covid health issues. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an efficient remedy for covid and didn't prevent folks from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents began trying into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence improvements at affordable costs,” court documents show, and provided services together with Botox, fat switch, hair removing and tattoo elimination.

The covid remedy package came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, information present.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired about the therapy kit, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful cure” that will maintain somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to courtroom records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, court docket documents show. “It’s onerous to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a exceptional clinical 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” cure for covid, Staley mentioned yes however certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” court docket information present.

In the course of the name, Staley also told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “received 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 versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, according to court paperwork.

A Florida man acquired tens of 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 settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as one in every of his staff 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 offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Immediately, 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 fine and to provide again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He additionally had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medication, multiple baggage of empty pill capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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