San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and folks isolated in their homes, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his palms on a “miracle treatment,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seaside Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the medicine changing into more and more scarce. However 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 help of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“On the top of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been available, this physician sought to revenue from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman stated in a information release. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the entire medical occupation.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat 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 prompted demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those that wanted it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine shouldn't be an effective remedy for covid and did not stop folks from turning into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal agents began wanting into Staley after involved clients alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at reasonably priced prices,” court docket documents show, and offered providers including Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

The covid remedy package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, data show.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired about the therapy kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful cure” that would maintain somebody immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, in accordance with courtroom records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the secret agent, courtroom paperwork show. “It’s onerous to imagine, it’s virtually too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a exceptional medical phenomenon.”

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

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

In the course of the name, Staley additionally instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “got 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 offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, according to court docket documents.

A Florida man acquired thousands and thousands in coronavirus aid. 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 all 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 in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a fast buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 wonderful and to offer again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He also had 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 mentioned.

In response to information from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been quickly suspended by a court docket order.