San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and folks isolated of their houses, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his hands 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 “treatment kits,” despite the treatment turning into more and more scarce. But Staley had a manner of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese language supplier, prosecutors stated.

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

“On the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines had been obtainable, this physician sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman stated in a news release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of all the medical career.”

Staley’s attorney did not instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to folks 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 “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement triggered demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an effective therapy for covid and didn't stop folks from becoming sick.

In keeping with prosecutors, federal brokers started trying into Staley after concerned prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty improvements at reasonably priced costs,” court paperwork present, and offered services together with Botox, fat transfer, hair removing and tattoo removing.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment equipment, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing cure” that will hold someone immune from covid for not less than six weeks, according to court information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the secret agent, court documents present. “It’s onerous to consider, it’s nearly too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a remarkable clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the remedy was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley stated yes however certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are no ensures in life,” court docket information show.

In the course of the name, Staley additionally told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “bought the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records show, and that he “tricked customs” by labeling the barrel as “candy potato extract.” He added that the powder was enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later provided the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, in line with court documents.

A Florida man acquired hundreds of thousands in coronavirus aid. 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 additionally admitted to posing as one of his staff 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 guaranteed treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right now, 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 fine and to provide back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, a number of luggage of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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