San Diego physician Jennings Staley sentenced in hydroxychloroquine scheme

In March and April of 2020, because the coronavirus unfold and people isolated in their homes, a physician in San Diego boasted that he had his fingers on a “miracle treatment,” based on prosecutors — hydroxychloroquine.

In mass-marketing emails from his business, Skinny Beach Med Spa, Jennings Ryan Staley mentioned the drug was included in his coronavirus “treatment kits,” regardless of the remedy changing into more and more scarce. However Staley had a means of getting it, he later advised an undercover federal agent. He planned to smuggle in a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the assistance of a Chinese language provider, prosecutors said.

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

“At the peak of the pandemic, before vaccines have been available, this doctor sought to profit from patients’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman mentioned in a news launch. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the complete medical occupation.”

Staley’s legal professional didn't instantly respond 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 individuals with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to deal with malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, beginning in the early days of the pandemic, as a “sport changer.” Trump’s endorsement brought on demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and finally affecting those that wanted it for non-covid well being problems. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine is just not an efficient treatment for covid and didn't forestall individuals from turning into sick.

In response to prosecutors, federal brokers started looking into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the marketing emails from Skinny Seashore Med Spa. The business advertised “world-class magnificence innovations at reasonably priced costs,” court documents show, and supplied providers together with Botox, fats transfer, hair elimination and tattoo elimination.

The covid treatment package 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, records show.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of the emails and inquired in regards to the remedy package, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the telephone soon after, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing treatment” that might keep someone immune from covid for a minimum of six weeks, in line with court docket information.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley stated to the undercover agent, courtroom paperwork present. “It’s hard to imagine, it’s nearly too good to be true. But it’s a remarkable medical 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 treatment was a “guaranteed” treatment for covid, Staley said sure however certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there aren't any ensures in life,” court records show.

In the course of the name, Staley additionally advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He said that he “received the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China,” records 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, despite never asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — sufficient for himself and five family members — for $4,000, based on courtroom paperwork.

A Florida man obtained hundreds of thousands in coronavirus aid. 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 also admitted to posing as considered one of his staff to fill a prescription for hydroxychloroquine to then use it in his kits, prosecutors mentioned. And he agreed to accusations that he lied to federal agents during the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a guaranteed remedy for COVID-19 to individuals gripped in fear throughout a world pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner said in a information release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a rip-off to make a quick buck.”

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

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