San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and other people remoted of their properties, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle cure,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

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

Staley was sentenced final week to 30 days in prison and a 12 months of house confinement for the scheme. He pleaded guilty final year.

“At the top of the pandemic, before vaccines were accessible, this doctor sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a news release. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the whole 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 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, beginning 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 ultimately affecting those that wanted it for non-covid well being problems. Studies later discovered that hydroxychloroquine is just not an effective therapy for covid and did not stop people from becoming sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal agents started wanting into Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty innovations at inexpensive costs,” court documents show, and supplied services together with Botox, fats switch, hair removal and tattoo elimination.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired about the therapy package, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing cure” that would maintain somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, in line with court records.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the secret agent, court documents present. “It’s arduous to believe, it’s almost 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 requested by the agent whether the medicine was a “guaranteed” remedy for covid, Staley said yes but certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” court records show.

Through the name, Staley also told the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “acquired the final 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 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, in keeping with court docket documents.

A Florida man received millions in coronavirus assist. 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 agreement, Staley additionally admitted to posing as considered one of his employees 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 during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley supplied a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in concern throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a news launch when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right this moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as 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 tremendous and to present again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He also had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medicine, a number of bags of empty tablet capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors stated.

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