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

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

Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in jail and a year of residence confinement for the scheme. He pleaded responsible last 12 months.

“At the top of the pandemic, earlier than vaccines had been available, this physician sought to profit from sufferers’ fears,” U.S. Lawyer Randy Grossman stated in a information launch. “He abused his place of trust and undermined the integrity of all the medical profession.”

Staley’s legal professional didn't instantly respond to requests for remark late Monday.

How false hope unfold about hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19 — and the consequences 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 prompted demand for the drug to spike, resulting in shortages and in the end affecting those who needed it for non-covid health issues. Research later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective remedy for covid and didn't prevent individuals from becoming sick.

In line with prosecutors, federal agents started looking into Staley after involved customers alerted the FBI to the advertising emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The enterprise marketed “world-class beauty improvements at reasonably priced costs,” court docket documents present, and supplied providers together with Botox, fats switch, hair removing and tattoo removing.

The covid remedy package got here with a 30-day “concierge medical expertise,” intravenous drips, entry to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional payment), and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, data show.

In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of the emails and inquired concerning the therapy package, investigators stated. When Staley and the agent spoke on the cellphone quickly after, the physician falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing treatment” that would preserve someone immune from covid for at least six weeks, according to courtroom data.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the undercover agent, court docket documents present. “It’s exhausting to believe, 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 an individual takes the drug.

When requested by the agent whether or not the remedy was a “assured” remedy for covid, Staley stated yes but certified that “there’s at all times exceptions” and “there aren't any guarantees in life,” courtroom records show.

During the name, Staley also advised the agent how he was sourcing the hydroxychloroquine. He stated that he “received the final 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 sufficient to make 8,000 doses in gelatin capsules.

Staley later offered the agent prescriptions for generic variations of Viagra and Xanax, a federally controlled substance, despite by no means asking him “any medical questions,” prosecutors stated. The agent ordered six kits — enough for himself and 5 family members — for $4,000, in line with court docket paperwork.

A Florida man obtained thousands and 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 part of his plea settlement, Staley also admitted to posing as one in all 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 in the course of the investigation.

“Dr. Staley offered a ‘magic bullet’ — a assured remedy for COVID-19 to folks gripped in fear during a worldwide pandemic,” FBI Particular Agent in Cost Suzanne Turner stated in a information release when Staley pleaded responsible. “Right this moment, Dr. Staley admitted it was all a lie as part of a scam to make a quick buck.”

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

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