San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and folks isolated in their houses, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle remedy,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the medication turning into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a way 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 supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

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

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to folks 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 brought about demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective therapy for covid and didn't forestall people from turning into sick.

According to prosecutors, federal brokers began wanting into Staley after concerned clients alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class beauty improvements at inexpensive costs,” court docket paperwork present, and supplied providers including Botox, fat transfer, hair removal and tattoo removing.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired about the remedy kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb cure” that will hold somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, in line with courtroom records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the spy, court paperwork present. “It’s laborious to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. But it surely’s a remarkable clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether the treatment was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley stated sure however certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court docket records show.

Throughout the name, Staley also advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “obtained the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, according to courtroom paperwork.

A Florida man obtained thousands and thousands 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 a part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as one in every of his employees to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal brokers in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in fear throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right now, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 tremendous and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical drugs, a number of luggage of empty tablet capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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