A California physician has been arrested and charged with fraud for allegedly selling a "100%" cure for COVID-19, according to the Department of Justice.
Jennings Ryan Staley, MD, operator of Skinny Beach Med Spa in Carmel Valley, Calif., was charged April 16 with mail fraud in connection with the sale of what he allegedly described as a cure for COVID-19. Prosecutors claim he sold "COVID-19 treatment packs" and drugs that he said would render customers immune to the virus for at least six weeks.
FBI agents launched an investigation after receiving a tip from the public. According to the Justice Department, Skinny Beach began sending emails in late March advertising the virus treatment packs priced at $3,995 for a family of four. The packs included the medications hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin and "anti-anxiety treatments." In a recorded phone call with an undercover FBI agent, Dr. Staley allegedly said the medications, which he described as a "miracle cure," would cure COVID-19 "100%."
Dr. Staley also allegedly offered the undercover FBI agent Xanax and shipped the drug to the agent without a medical examination.
In an interview with the FBI, Dr. Staley allegedly said it was "not definitive" that the medication he offered cured COVID-19, according to the Justice Department.