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 health care provider in San Diego boasted that he had his arms on a “miracle treatment,” in line with prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

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

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines had been out there, this physician sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Attorney Randy Grossman stated in a news launch. “He abused his place of belief and undermined the integrity of the entire medical occupation.”

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

How false hope spread about hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 — and the implications that adopted

Hydroxychloroquine is commonly prescribed to individuals 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 “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement caused demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those who wanted it for non-covid health issues. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine just isn't an effective treatment for covid and did not forestall individuals from turning into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal agents started trying into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The enterprise advertised “world-class beauty innovations at inexpensive prices,” courtroom documents present, and supplied services including Botox, fat transfer, hair elimination and tattoo removing.

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

In late March 2020, an spy responded to one of the emails and inquired about the remedy kit, investigators mentioned. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “superb cure” that might hold someone immune from covid for at the very least six weeks, in line with courtroom records.

“It’s preventive and healing,” Staley mentioned to the undercover agent, courtroom documents show. “It’s arduous to believe, it’s virtually too good to be true. But it’s a remarkable scientific phenomenon.”

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

When asked by the agent whether or not the treatment was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley stated sure but qualified that “there’s all the time exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” courtroom information present.

In the course of 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 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 supplied the agent prescriptions for generic versions of Viagra and Xanax, a federally managed substance, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors mentioned. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and 5 members of the family — for $4,000, according to court docket documents.

A Florida man acquired hundreds of thousands 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 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 in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley provided a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear throughout a global pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Charge Suzanne Turner mentioned in a news release when Staley pleaded responsible. “At the moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a fast buck.”

As part of his sentencing on Friday, Staley was ordered to pay a $10,000 fantastic and to provide again the $4,000 the federal agent paid for his household’s equipment. He additionally had to hand over “greater than 4,500 tablets of varied pharmaceutical medication, a number of baggage of empty tablet capsules, and a guide capsule-filling machine,” prosecutors said.

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