Doctor facing manslaughter charge after woman dies during treatment

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Prosecutors have charged Dr. Samuel Lee with manslaughter in the death of one of his clients.

Read more FBI searching for Miami Lakes bank robber

It was February of last year when Tina Sohdi, 51, was found dead in a sauna at the Sabia Wellness House off Flamingo Way in Miami Beach.

According to a lengthy arrest warrant, Lee told officers he was a “licensed medical doctor and an “elder” of the Eternal Life Tribe.”

He was staying at the wellness house to conduct something called a “heart protocol” for two clients.

The report says it is “a treatment, holistic in nature, that consists of the subject administering/ facilitating a GABA agonist, pure MDMA, and Ketamine.”

Treatment benefits include relief from depression, anxiety, addiction and more. Prosecutors say the alternative healing ceremony resulted in Sodhi’s death

According to the Eternal Life Tribe website, there are more than 4,000 members, with membership costing $55 a month.

Read more Authorities release video evidence in case of woman’s death on I-95

Sohdi did sign a waiver acknowledging potential side effects and risks, and she had to have a parasite cleanse before the ceremony.

The medical examiners office ruled the sauna and use of MDMA and ketamine caused Sohdi to be severely dehydrated and dropped her sodium levels to dangerously low levels, which caused her death.

An attorney representing the owner of Sabia Wellness House sent Local 10 News a statement which read, in part:

“We are grateful that the police and the state attorneys office saw this case for what it is and what it is not and that my client was not liable in any way for this tragedy. There are some great effective alternatives to western medicine but tragedy unfolds when not performed to the utmost standards.”

-Richard Cooper

Lee has entered a not guilty plea and his medical license in Texas has been temporarily suspended, with a board calling his “practice of medicine a threat to public welfare.”

Read more FIFA World Cup 2026: Spain advances to final