San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus spread and people isolated in their properties, a health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his hands on a “miracle remedy,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his enterprise, Skinny Seashore Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “remedy kits,” despite the treatment turning into increasingly scarce. But Staley had a method of getting it, he later told an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language supplier, prosecutors said.

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines have been obtainable, this doctor sought to revenue from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Legal professional Randy Grossman mentioned in a information release. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of the complete medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional didn't instantly reply to requests for comment late Monday.

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

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 in the early days of the pandemic, as a “recreation changer.” Trump’s endorsement precipitated demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those that needed it for non-covid well being problems. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine isn't an effective remedy for covid and did not prevent individuals from becoming sick.

Based on prosecutors, federal agents began looking into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Seaside Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class beauty improvements at reasonably priced costs,” court docket paperwork show, and offered companies including Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removal.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of many emails and inquired in regards to the remedy package, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “wonderful remedy” that would hold somebody immune from covid for at least six weeks, in response to court docket information.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, court docket documents show. “It’s exhausting to believe, it’s virtually too good to be true. Nevertheless it’s a outstanding scientific 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 mentioned sure but certified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there are no guarantees in life,” courtroom data present.

Through the call, Staley also instructed the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “acquired 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 versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, regardless of never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five members of the family — for $4,000, in accordance with court documents.

A Florida man acquired millions in coronavirus help. 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 certainly 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 provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to people gripped in worry during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Special Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a news release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Right this moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a fast buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 nice and to offer back the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his family’s equipment. He also had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, a number of bags of empty capsule capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

According to data from the medical board of California, Staley’s license has been briefly suspended by a court docket order.