Who is Jennings Ryan Staley? Doc jailed for smuggling hydroxychloroquine as Covid ‘miracle cure’
A Southern California doctor was sentenced to prison last week for trying to smuggle hydroxychloroquine into the US as 'miracle cure' for Covid-19. 44-year-old physician Jennings Ryan Staley confessed that he worked with a Chinese supplier to illegally import a barrel that he believed contained 26 pounds of the anti-malarial drug mislabeled as “yam extract", court documents claimed. He also admitted that as part of his plan, he wanted to sell hydroxychloroquine powder in capsules.
Former President Donald Trump had once touted hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19. Chloroquine is an antimalarial drug that was developed in 1934, and hydroxychloroquine is an analogue of chloroquine. Hydroxychloroquine is used to treat autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as Malaria. It has been hypothesized to be a potential mechanism of action for treating Coronavirus. However, a research team led by investigators from Brigham and Women's Hospital, US, analyzed real-world evidence related to outcomes for Covid-19 patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine and found that hospitalized Covid-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are more likely to die or develop dangerous heart rhythm complications.
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Who is Jennings Ryan Staley?
As per Staley's LinkedIn profile, he studied at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine and Hennepin County Medical Center. His profile says that he is a Freelance Hospitalist at Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center, and also at Regency Hospital Company. He is also the CEO of a company called Nine Line, Inc.
His bio reads, "As a practicing freelance Internist for the past 8 years, I am keenly aware of the impact that provider staffing shortages can have on a health system. Freelance Physician was created as an original workforce solution that actually connects hospitals directly to freelance providers in their community. It gives healthcare organizations an online tool that allows them to effortlessly build and manage their own float pools of local providers. The Freelance Physician platform accomplishes credentialing, scheduling, time sheet procurement, private communication, and more, all online, mobile and automated. Thousands of physicians across the country have joined the movement in search of these local work opportunities, creating an original social medical network of physicians, nurses, and advanced practitioners that expands daily."
Staley peddled Covid-19 “treatment kits” in March and April 2020 when the pandemic was spreading across the United States. At the time, vaccinations were not available. As part of his plan, he even sought investors in his venture, promising one of them that he could “triple your money in 90 days.”
Staley admitted that he wrote a prescription for the drug, which is very hard to find, in his employee’s name and personal information. He reportedly answered the pharmacists’ questions to fill the script as if he was the employee, without the consent of the employee. The Covid “treatment kits” were sold in San Diego at Staley’s Skinny Beach Med Spas locations. According to federal prosecutors, many citizens alarmed by the marketing campaign tipped off law enforcement on the scam.
In a recorded phone call with an undercover agent, who bought six of Staley’s “treatment kits” for $4,000, the scammer boasted about how he “got the last tank of… hydroxychloroquine, smuggled out of China, Sunday night at 1:00 a.m. in the morning… the broker… smuggled it out, so to speak, otherwise tricked Customs by saying it was sweet potato extract,” documents revealed.
Referring to a different phone call, the United States Department of Justice, US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California, said in a release, "In a later phone call with the undercover agent, Staley spontaneously offered to throw in doses of generic Viagra and Xanax, which is a federally controlled substance. At no point did Staley ask any medical questions about the undercover agent’s purported family members, including the agent’s three supposed minor children."
"Staley also admitted that he willfully impeded and sought to obstruct the federal investigation into his conduct by lying to federal agents. Specifically, when interviewed by law enforcement, Staley falsely denied ever claiming that his 'treatment kits' were a 'one hundred percent effective cure,' adding 'that would be foolish.' Staley also falsely claimed that his medical practice would 'absolutely' get all relevant information about each family member when sending out medications for a family treatment pack, when just a week earlier, he had dispensed a 'family pack' of hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, generic Viagra, Xanax, and azithromycin to the undercover agent without collecting any medical information from the agent or the agent’s five supposed family members," the release added.
US District Judge Gonzalo P Curiel has reportedly demanded that Staley pay a $10,000 fine. He also ordered forfeiture of the $4,000 paid by the undercover agent, and "more than 4,500 tablets of various pharmaceutical drugs, multiple bags of empty pill capsules, and a manual capsule-filling machine," the release said.
“At the height of the pandemic, before vaccines were available, this doctor sought to profit from patients’ fears,” said US Attorney Randy Grossman. “He abused his position of trust and undermined the integrity of the entire medical profession. We are committed to enforcing the laws of the United States and protecting patients, including prosecuting doctors who choose to commit crimes.”