San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and other people isolated in their homes, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle remedy,” based on prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the medication becoming increasingly scarce. However Staley had a way of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors mentioned.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were obtainable, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a news release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of all the medical career.”

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

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 — and the implications that adopted

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 in the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement induced demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and ultimately affecting those who needed it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine will not be an effective therapy for covid and did not forestall people from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal brokers started wanting into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class beauty innovations at reasonably priced prices,” court docket paperwork show, and supplied providers including Botox, fats transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

The covid treatment equipment got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, information present.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the treatment package, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb treatment” that would preserve somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in accordance with court docket information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, court documents present. “It’s exhausting to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a exceptional clinical phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether the treatment was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley mentioned yes however qualified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” courtroom information present.

During the name, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “acquired the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information present, 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 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 stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, in accordance with court paperwork.

A Florida man obtained 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 agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as one in every of his workers 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 brokers during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in fear throughout a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Right now, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a fast buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 superb and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medication, multiple bags of empty tablet capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

Based on records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been briefly suspended by a courtroom order.