San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, as the coronavirus spread and people isolated in their houses, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle remedy,” in response to prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley stated the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” regardless of the medication changing into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a manner of getting it, he later informed an undercover federal agent. He deliberate to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese provider, prosecutors said.

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

“At the height of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been accessible, this physician sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his position of belief and undermined the integrity of your entire medical occupation.”

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

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

Hydroxychloroquine is usually prescribed to people 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 brought on demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that wanted it for non-covid health problems. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an effective remedy for covid and did not prevent folks from becoming sick.

According to prosecutors, federal agents began looking into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class magnificence improvements at reasonably priced costs,” courtroom paperwork present, and provided services together with Botox, fats transfer, hair removal and tattoo removing.

The covid treatment package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an extra charge), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety medicines, information present.

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired about the treatment package, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb cure” that will maintain somebody immune from covid for at the least six weeks, according to court records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, courtroom documents present. “It’s arduous to consider, it’s almost too good to be true. However it’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 or not the medication was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley stated yes but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” court data show.

During the name, Staley additionally instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “received the final tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” information 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 provided the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, in keeping with court paperwork.

A Florida man acquired hundreds of thousands in coronavirus aid. He used it to purchase 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 also admitted to posing as one of his staff 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 brokers in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured cure for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in concern throughout a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Right now, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as a 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 nice and to give back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s kit. He also needed to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of assorted pharmaceutical medication, multiple luggage of empty capsule capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors mentioned.

Based on data from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been temporarily suspended by a court docket order.