San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the medication becoming increasingly scarce. But Staley had a approach of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language supplier, prosecutors said.

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

“On the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines had been obtainable, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman stated in a information release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your entire medical profession.”

Staley’s lawyer did not immediately reply to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to people 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 caused demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being issues. Research later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is just not an effective therapy for covid and didn't prevent individuals from turning into sick.

In keeping with prosecutors, federal brokers began wanting into Staley after concerned clients alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at affordable prices,” court paperwork show, and provided providers including Botox, fats switch, hair elimination and tattoo elimination.

The covid therapy package got here 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 drugs, data show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the remedy kit, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb treatment” that will preserve somebody immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, in response to court information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, court docket documents show. “It’s hard to believe, it’s virtually 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 or not the treatment was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley mentioned sure but certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court docket records present.

Throughout the name, Staley additionally instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “acquired the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data 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 provided the agent prescriptions for generic versions 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 members of the family — for $4,000, in line with court documents.

A Florida man obtained thousands and thousands in coronavirus support. He used it to purchase a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded responsible in July 2021. As a part of his plea agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as one 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 agents through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a information launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “As we speak, 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 fantastic and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He additionally needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medicine, multiple bags of empty pill capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

According to information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been quickly suspended by a courtroom order.