San Diego doctor Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

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

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the treatment turning into increasingly scarce. However Staley had a manner of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors said.

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

“On the top of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines were out there, this physician sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of the entire medical career.”

Staley’s legal professional did not instantly respond to requests for remark late Monday.

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

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to folks with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting within the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement caused demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an efficient treatment for covid and did not forestall people from changing into sick.

In keeping with prosecutors, federal agents began trying into Staley after involved prospects alerted the FBI to the advertising and marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at affordable prices,” courtroom paperwork show, and supplied providers together with Botox, fat switch, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

The covid treatment kit came with a 30-day “concierge medical experience,” intravenous drips, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medications, records present.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of many emails and inquired concerning the therapy kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing remedy” that would hold somebody immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, according to court docket data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the spy, court paperwork present. “It’s exhausting to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. However it’s a exceptional clinical phenomenon.”

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

When requested by the agent whether or not the medication was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley mentioned yes but certified that “there’s always exceptions” and “there are not any ensures in life,” court records present.

In the course of the call, Staley additionally told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “obtained the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” data show, 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 offered 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 — enough for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, in accordance with court documents.

A Florida man obtained hundreds of thousands in coronavirus assist. He used it to buy 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 one in all 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 throughout the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in worry throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner stated in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Right now, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 superb and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s package. He additionally had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, multiple baggage of empty pill capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

In accordance with data from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been quickly suspended by a courtroom order.