San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” regardless of the remedy turning into more and more scarce. But Staley had a manner 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 provider, prosecutors mentioned.

Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in prison and a 12 months of house confinement for the scheme. He pleaded guilty last 12 months.

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines had been obtainable, this doctor sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical profession.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting in the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement induced demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those who wanted it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an effective therapy for covid and didn't stop people from becoming sick.

In accordance with prosecutors, federal brokers began wanting into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at reasonably priced costs,” court docket paperwork present, and provided companies including Botox, fat switch, hair removing and tattoo removing.

The covid therapy equipment got here with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, information show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired about the treatment kit, 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 “amazing remedy” that would keep someone immune from covid for no less than six weeks, in response to court docket information.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the spy, court documents show. “It’s arduous to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a exceptional scientific phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether or not the medicine was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley mentioned sure but certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court docket information show.

Through the name, Staley additionally informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “received the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records present, 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 variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five relations — for $4,000, in keeping with court documents.

A Florida man received hundreds of thousands in coronavirus help. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as certainly one of his workers 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 brokers throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry during a global pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a information launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “At the moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a part of a rip-off to make a fast buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 advantageous and to provide again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medicine, multiple luggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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