Consumer Health Digest, #21-29

July 25, 2021

Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H., with help from Stephen Barrett, M.D., It summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement actions; other news items; Web site evaluations; recommended and nonrecommended books; research tips; and other information relevant to consumer protection and consumer decision-making. The Digest’s primary focus is on health, but occasionally it includes non-health scams and practical tips. Items posted to this archive may be updated when relevant information becomes available. To subscribe, click here.

COVID-19 “miracle cure” promoter pleads guilty. Jennings Ryan Staley, M.D., who operated Skinny Beach Med Spas in and near San Diego, California, has pleaded guilty to one count of importation contrary to law. In his plea agreement, he admitted that he:

  • worked with a Chinese supplier to smuggle a barrel into the United States that he believed contained over 26 pounds of hydroxychloroquine powder by mislabeling it as “yam extract”
  • intended to sell the hydroxychloroquine powder in capsules as part of his 2020 business venture selling the COVID-19 “treatment kits”
  • wrote a prescription for hydroxychloroquine for one of his employees and then misused the employee’s name and personal identifying information to fill the prescription, all without the employee’s knowledge or consent
  • engaged in this conduct to obtain more of the drug for his enterprise
  • marketed and sold his treatment kits to Skinny Beach customers in late March and early April 2020
  • described his products—which included hydroxychloroquine—as a “one hundred percent” cure, a “magic bullet,” an “amazing weapon,” and “almost too good to be true,” and stated that the products would provide at least six weeks of immunity
  • admitted that these statements were material to his potential customers and that, as a doctor, he abused a position of public trust
  • willfully impeded and sought to obstruct the federal investigation into his conduct by lying to federal agents by: (a) falsely denying that he ever claimed that his treatment packages were a “one hundred percent effective cure,” adding “that would be foolish” and (b) falsely claiming that his medical practice would “absolutely” get all relevant information about each family member when sending out medications for a family treatment pack. Yet, 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 his five supposed family members.

Staley faces a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison, a fine, and a special assessment. [Doctor selling COVID-19 “cure” pleads guilty. U.S Attorney’s Office Southern District of California news release, July 16, 2021] The superseding indictment against Staley—filed last December—was previously discussed in Consumer Health Digest. The Medical Board of California has noted that last April, the U.S. District Court prohibited Staley from prescribing any controlled substances except phentermine and testosterone cypionate. To date, however, the Board has taken no disciplinary action against him.

Investigation exposes Medical Board of California’s failure to protect consumers. In a series of investigative articles by Los Angeles Times reporters, the Medical Board of California has been accused of failing to adequately discipline physicians. After reviewing board actions since 2008, the reporters identified the 10 doctors who were most frequently found to have committed serious malpractice. Among these were:

  • Aytac Apaydin, a Salinas urologist who left a piece of wire in a patient’s bladder, leaving him impotent, in pain, and urinating blood for a year. The board revoked his license later, in 2018, for the negligent care of four other patients, but it stayed the order and placed him on probation, allowing him to continue practicing.
  • Mukesh Misra, a Lancaster surgeon who had been publicly accused by the Medical Board of California of operating on the wrong side of a patient’s brain. He had admitted to failing to maintain accurate records for his treatment of the patient and had agreed to a settlement involving remedial education. He then went on to perform spinal surgery on: (a) a woman with chronic back pain that resulted in paralysis from the waist down and then omitted mention in her records of his mistakes that caused the paralysis, and (b) another woman who died of complications from a severed artery discovered minutes after the operation. Following this, the board revoked his license for gross negligence, but then stayed the action and placed him on probation allowing him to continue in practice.
  • Kevin Ciresi, a Fresno plastic surgeon with five convictions for driving under the influence. The board had revoked his medical license twice before staying the actions and putting him on probation. He is accused of gross negligence in a pending board action for the death of one patient and the permanent brain damage of another. Ciresi denied wrongdoing in civil lawsuits filed in those cases. [Christensen K, Dolan J. A California doctor was disciplined for DUIs. Now he’s accused of gross negligence. Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2021]
  • John Chiu, a Thousand Oaks surgeon who, when threatened with a third revocation, asked for a “grace period” of a few months to sell his practice without the taint of a lost license scaring off buyers. The board allowed it. On the day before he finally surrendered his license, Chiu botched a surgery, according to a pending lawsuit, leaving the patient in excruciating pain and dependent on a walker.
  • Lokesh Tantuwaya, a San Diego spinal surgeon whose license has been revoked three times by the board, which placed him on probation each time. His license remains valid as he sits in jail awaiting trial on charges that he took more than $3 million in illegal kickbacks for surgeries in one of the biggest insurance scams in state history. [Dolan J, Christensen K. A doctor was charged in a billion-dollar fraud scheme. But his license remains active. Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2021]

Four of the ten doctors went on to be accused of doing serious harm to other patients after being disciplined the first time. Several had been given probation that was shorter than the guidelines recommend. Public Citizen ranks California’s Medical Board 33rd in the country in imposing serious disciplinary action such as license revocation, suspension, or forced surrender. [Dolan J, Christensen K. Botched surgeries and death: How the California Medical Board keeps negligent doctors in business. Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2021] Patient advocacy organizations have argued that efforts by the California Medical Association have interfered with efforts to reform the board’s disciplinary practices and ensure the board has adequate resources to do its job. [Gutierrez M. and others. Critics say physicians ‘cartel’ obstructing efforts to punish bad doctors. Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2021] One article in the series includes tips for consumers to find information about their doctors and file complaints. [Christensen K, Dolan J. Finding information about your doctor isn’t always easy. Here are some ways to dig deeper. Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2021] The Christensen–Dolan articles fail to mention that in 2022, a ballot measure will go before voters that would eliminate the $250,000 cap on damages for pain and suffering in medical malpractice cases that was imposed by the 1975 Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA). [Walters D. Great LA Times malpractice exposĂ© has odd omission. Cal Matters, July 20, 2021]

New York Times calls Mercola the most influential COVID-19 misinformation spreader. A front-page story in The New York Times describes Joseph Mercola’s anti-vaccination activities, his unproven, sometimes farfetched health claims, his entrepreneurial activities, his enormous influence, and the regulatory actions taken against him by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Kolina Koltai, a researcher at the University of Washington who studies online conspiracy theories, has concluded that, “Mercola is the pioneer of the anti-vaccine movement. He’s a master of capitalizing on periods of uncertainty, like the pandemic, to grow his movement.” Imran Ahmed, director of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, has commented that Mercola “has been given new life by social media, which he exploits skillfully and ruthlessly to bring people into his thrall.” In 2017, Mercola filed an affidavit stating his net worth exceeded $100 million. [Frenkel S. The most influential spreader of coronavirus misinformation online. Seattle Times, July 24, 2021] David Gorski, M.D., Ph.D. has provided a detailed commentary about the story and other information about Mercola. [Gorski D. Joe Mercola: An antivaccine quack tycoon pivots effortlessly to profit from spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Science-Based Medicine, July 26, 2021] Quackwatch has summarized Mercola’s background and illegal claims.


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