San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore 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. But Staley had a way of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors said.

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been available, this doctor sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of the entire medical occupation.”

Staley’s attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly 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 caused demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and finally affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being issues. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an efficient therapy for covid and didn't stop people from changing into sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal brokers began trying into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class beauty improvements at inexpensive prices,” courtroom paperwork show, and provided providers together with Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

The covid therapy kit came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, records show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the remedy package, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb remedy” that might preserve someone immune from covid for at the least six weeks, in line with court records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, courtroom documents show. “It’s laborious to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. But it’s a remarkable clinical phenomenon.”

He added that the virus “actually disappears in hours” after an individual takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether the remedy was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley said yes but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court docket records show.

In the course of the call, Staley also told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “obtained the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data 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 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 mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, according to court docket documents.

A Florida man received thousands and thousands in coronavirus assist. 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 agreement, 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 stated. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in concern throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “At this time, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a fast 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 equipment. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical drugs, multiple luggage of empty capsule capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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