San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and other people isolated of their homes, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle remedy,” according to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the treatment changing into more and more scarce. However Staley had a method of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese provider, prosecutors said.

Staley was sentenced final week to 30 days in jail and a 12 months of home confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible final yr.

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

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

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

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 “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought about demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine will not be an efficient remedy for covid and didn't forestall folks from turning into sick.

In accordance with prosecutors, federal agents began trying into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at inexpensive prices,” court paperwork show, and supplied services together with Botox, fats switch, hair removal and tattoo removal.

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

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 phone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing cure” that may maintain somebody immune from covid for not less than six weeks, in keeping with court docket data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the secret agent, courtroom documents show. “It’s hard to believe, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it’s a exceptional scientific 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 “assured” treatment for covid, Staley said sure but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court data show.

During the name, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “bought the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, regardless of by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 relations — for $4,000, in accordance with court docket paperwork.

A Florida man received tens of millions 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 part of his plea agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as certainly 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 throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to folks gripped in worry throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information launch when Staley pleaded guilty. “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 fine and to present back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medication, multiple bags of empty capsule capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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