A Doctor Claimed he had a Miracle Cure for COVID. He's Going to Prison

[lees1975]

Source: Washington Post

Hydroxychloroquine is often prescribed to people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis and is used to treat malaria. The drug was repeatedly touted by President Donald Trump, starting in the early days of the pandemic, as a “game changer.” Trump’s endorsement caused demand for the drug to spike, leading to shortages and ultimately affecting those who needed it for non-covid health problems. Studies later found that hydroxychloroquine is not an effective treatment for covid and did not prevent people from becoming sick.

“It’s preventive and curative,” Staley said to the undercover agent, court documents show. “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 the drug.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/05/31/covid-cure-doctor-jennings-staley/

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And Trump believed this snake oil peddler.

[Red State Prisoner]

1. Criminal Negligence?

Wouldn't that be true if he's the source of the ridiculous rumor that 45* started touting as a miracle cure? I read articles where people died as a result of erroneously believing this drug was the cure. There were reports of people attending Covid parties in the hope of getting sick, developing antibodies, and taking hydroxychloroquine to clear it all up. If this asshole is the source, his punishment should have been way more severe than this.

[Orrex]

3. The defense would be that Trump is an ignorant fuckhead, and he's no authority

Last edited Tue May 31, 2022, 04:42 PM - Edit history (1)

They'd likely follow the Fox News strategy and argue that no reasonable person would believe Trump's fuckheaded ruminations, because he's no more a doctor than he is a competent businessman, father, husband, president, or ex-president. He's not even a competent criminal.

[BlueIdaho]

2. Hope this quack loses his medical license. nt

[jmowreader]

4. This one is even more fun than you think

https://nypost.com/2022/05/30/socal-doctor-jennings-ryan-staley-sentenced-for-trying-to-import-drugs-to-hock-his-covid-19-miracle-cure/

Staley worked with a Chinese supplier to ship a barrel containing 26 pounds of what he believed to be hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) into the US. It was labeled as Yam Extract. In reality, it could have been anything because a supplier willing to label HCQ as yam extract is also willing to label corn starch as yam extract and tell you it’s HCQ.

This doctor claimed taking HCQ would grant the patient 90 days of absolute immunity from COVID.

He was also trying to lure investors into his racket by promising to triple their money in 90 days.

He was selling “family packs” containing HCQ, chloroquine, azithromycin, Xanax and generic Viagra for $800. While he claimed to obtain medical information on his buyers before selling this, the federal agent who bought five of them was never asked any medical questions.

The fine was $10,000 plus the return of the government’s $4000.

[Mr.Bill]

5. Here's a story without a paywall:

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/doctor-selling-covid-19-cure-sentenced-prison

[thesquanderer]

6. re: "And Trump believed this snake oil peddler."

Did I miss something? I didn't see any evidence that Trump ever had any contact with (or got any info from) this guy.

[NullTuples]

7. He should be sued by everyone w/ lupus or R.A. whose conditioned worsened b/c of shortages

Hydroxychloroquine doesn't cure them, it slows or stops their advance. But it can stretch out the years someone is able to do things at each level of progression. Without it, they can quickly go from, "living a nearly normal life" to "can't do anything any more".

[LetMyPeopleVote]

8. Locking this asshole up is appropriate

[Warpy]

9. Looks like he was a Dr. Feelgood, just giving people what they wanted

without doing even a cursory evaluation to find out what they might have needed. It was the Xanax without a physical evaluation that sank him, not the hydroxychlotoquine.

The latter should have done it. The initial research was in the 40s and 50s and found a strong antiviral reaction in the test tube. Unfortunately, when given to patient s in sufficient amounts to kill viruses, they also caused cardiac thythm problems that killed the patients. The information wasn't easy to find, took me about 2 hours to find an abstract in the bowels of a very obscure medical oddity site, but it was there. Dr. Feelgood didn't do due diligence. He's lucky he didn't kill anyone with it.

It's not a benign drug. Even in the usual prescription strength, it has some nasty side effects. I was on it for a total of 10 years.

[TexasBushwhacker]

10. On LinkedIn he describes himself as a "freelance internist" n/t

[Lithos]

11. Hoping it was one of the quacks from Houston

They should go to prison as well.