San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and people isolated in their properties, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle treatment,” based on 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 becoming more and more scarce. However Staley had a way of getting it, he later instructed an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese provider, prosecutors stated.

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

“On the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman stated in a information release. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the complete medical career.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning within the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement triggered demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine isn't an effective remedy for covid and did not forestall individuals from changing into sick.

According to prosecutors, federal brokers started wanting into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business marketed “world-class magnificence innovations at affordable costs,” court docket documents show, and supplied services together with Botox, fat switch, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

The covid treatment equipment came with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra fee), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, records show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the treatment kit, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone soon after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful remedy” that may preserve somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, in keeping with court docket information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the secret agent, court paperwork show. “It’s hard to believe, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it surely’s a exceptional medical 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 said sure but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court docket information show.

In the course of the name, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “bought the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data 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 versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, according to court documents.

A Florida man acquired thousands and thousands in coronavirus support. 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 of his employees to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal brokers throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured cure for COVID-19 to people gripped in fear throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “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 advantageous and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical drugs, multiple bags of empty tablet capsules, and a handbook capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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