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In March and April 2020, when the coronavirus spread and people were isolated in their homes, a doctor in San Diego boasted that he had a “miracle cure” in his hands, according to prosecutors – hydroxychloroquine.
In mass marketing emails from his Skinny Beach Med Spa business, Jennings Ryan Staley said the drug is included in his “coronavirus treatment kits,” although the drug is becoming increasingly scarce. But Staley had a way to get it, he later told a federal undercover agent. He planned to smuggle a barrel of hydroxychloroquine powder with the help of a Chinese supplier, prosecutors said.
Staley was sentenced last week to 30 days in prison and one year of house arrest for the scheme. He pleaded guilty last year.
“In the midst of the pandemic, before vaccines became available, this doctor tried to take advantage of patients’ fears,” US Attorney Randy Grossman said in a press release. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the entire medical profession.
Staley’s lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Monday.
Allegations of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of covid-19 have gained popularity despite the lack of scientific evidence. How did this happen? (Video: Elise Samuels, Meg Kelly, Sarah Callan / Washington Post)
How the false hope of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of covid-19 spread – and the consequences that followed
Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug has been repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting in the early days of the pandemic, as “game-changing.” Trump’s approval caused a surge in demand for the drug, which led to a shortage and ultimately affected those who needed it for health problems other than covid. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine was not an effective treatment for covid and did not prevent people from getting sick.
According to prosecutors, federal agents began checking Staley after concerned customers alerted the FBI to marketing emails from Skinny Beach Med Spa. The business advertises “world-class beauty innovations at affordable prices”, displays court documents and offers services including Botox, fat transfer, hair removal and tattoo removal.
The covid treatment kit comes with a 30-day “porter’s medical experience”, intravenous drops, access to medical hyperbaric oxygen (at an additional cost) and prescriptions for hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin and anti-anxiety drugs, the records show.
In late March 2020, an undercover agent responded to one of the emails and asked about the treatment kit, investigators said. When Staley and the agent spoke on the phone shortly thereafter, the doctor falsely claimed that hydroxychloroquine was a “magic bullet” and an “amazing drug” that would keep someone immune to covid for at least six weeks, according to court records.
“It’s preventative and curative,” Staley told the undercover agent, according to court documents. “It’s hard to believe, it’s almost too good to be true. But it’s a remarkable clinical phenomenon. “
He added that the virus “literally disappears in hours” after a person takes it the drug.
Asked by the agent if the drug was a “guaranteed” drug for covid, Staley said “yes”, but described that “there are always exceptions” and “no guarantees in life”, court records show.
During the conversation, Staley also told the agent how he got hydroxychloroquine. He said he had received “the last tank of hydroxychloroquine smuggled out of China”, records show, and that he had “cheated customs” by labeling the barrel as a “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, although he never asked him “any medical questions,” prosecutors said. The agent ordered six sets – enough for him and five family members – for $ 4,000, according to court documents.
A man from Florida received millions in aid for coronavirus. He used it to buy a Lamborghini, prosecutors say.
Staley was indicted in mid-April 2020 and pleaded guilty in July 2021. As part of the plea agreement, Staley also admitted to posing as one of his employees to fulfill a hydroxychloroquine prescription for to use it in their kits, prosecutors said. And he agreed with the accusations that he lied to federal agents during the investigation.
“Dr. Staley has proposed a ‘magic bullet’ – a guaranteed cure for COVID-19 to people plagued by fear during a global pandemic,” Susan Turner, an FBI special agent, said in a press release when Staley pleaded guilty. “Today, Dr. Staley admitted that it was all a lie as part of a quick-profit scam.”
As part of his sentence Friday, Staley was sentenced to pay a $ 10,000 fine and return the $ 4,000 federal agent paid for his family’s kit. He also had to hand over “more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, multiple bags of empty pill capsules and a manual capsule filling machine,” prosecutors said.
According to records from the California Medical Council, Staley’s license was suspended by a court order.
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