San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “therapy kits,” despite the treatment turning into increasingly 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 stated.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been available, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of your entire medical occupation.”

Staley’s lawyer didn't immediately reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

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 within the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement triggered demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being issues. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an efficient remedy for covid and did not prevent people from turning into sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal brokers started looking into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at affordable costs,” court docket paperwork present, and offered providers together with Botox, fat transfer, hair removing and tattoo elimination.

The covid remedy equipment came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, information show.

In late March 2020, an secret agent responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the therapy package, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful cure” that will hold someone immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, according to courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the secret agent, court documents present. “It’s onerous to believe, it’s nearly too good to be true. However 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 remedy was a “guaranteed” cure for covid, Staley stated sure but certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there are not any guarantees in life,” court records present.

During the name, Staley also informed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “obtained the last 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 enough to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later supplied the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, based on court docket documents.

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

Staley was charged in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As a part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as one among his staff to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors stated. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal brokers through the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in concern during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner mentioned in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “As we speak, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a quick buck.”

As a part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 high-quality and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s package. He also needed to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medicine, a number of bags of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

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