San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus unfold and other people isolated in their homes, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle cure,” in keeping with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the medicine changing into more and more scarce. But 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 supplier, prosecutors said.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been out there, this doctor sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a news release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your entire medical profession.”

Staley’s lawyer did not instantly respond to requests for comment late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to deal with covid-19 — and the results 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 within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine will not be an efficient treatment for covid and did not forestall people from changing into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started looking into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty innovations at affordable costs,” courtroom documents present, and supplied providers including Botox, fat transfer, hair removal and tattoo removal.

The covid therapy package came 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 drugs, data present.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the therapy kit, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful cure” that would preserve someone immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to courtroom information.

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

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

When requested by the agent whether the treatment was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley mentioned sure but qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court docket data show.

During the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He mentioned that he “bought the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records 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 provided the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, in keeping with court documents.

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

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of his plea settlement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as one of his employees 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 agents in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured treatment for COVID-19 to folks gripped in concern throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner said in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Immediately, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 wonderful and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s package. He also had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical medication, multiple luggage of empty tablet capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

In line with records from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been briefly suspended by a court order.