More than a year after a woman was found dead in a wellness house in Miami Beach, the doctor accused of giving her drugs as part of a “heart protocol” ceremony is facing criminal charges.
More than a year after a woman was found dead in a wellness house in Miami Beach, the doctor accused of giving her drugs as part of a “heart protocol” ceremony is facing criminal charges
Samuel Lee, 44, is facing a manslaughter charge in the Feb. 10, 2025 death of Tina Sodhi, court records show
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Lee, a medical doctor certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, describes himself as a “holistic, integrative psychiatrist who uses a Spiritual approach towards mental health.”
But according to an arrest warrant, Lee used the alternative healing practices in a so-called “heart protocol” ceremony that ended in the death of Sodhi
Sodhi had gone to Sabia Wellness House, a holistic wellness retreat in Miami Beach, to undergo the ceremony, where she was given a mixture of controlled substances including Ketamine, MDMA and DMT, a psychedelic, the warrant said
Police and fire rescue crews later responded to a call of an unresponsive female, Sodhi, who was found in a sauna at the wellness center
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When officers arrived, Lee was giving Sodhi CPR, but the efforts were unsuccessful and she was pronounced dead at the scene, the warrant said
According to the warrant, an officer spoke with Lee, who said he’s a licensed doctor and “elder” of the Eternal Life Tribe who explained he was there to conduct the “heart protocol” treatment which “was a sacred sacrament of the church and not performed under his medical license.”
Investigators searched Sodhi’s phone and found messages and emails between her and Lee about the ceremony, including a receipt for the $2,000 fee, the warrant said
Sodhi had signed a waiver that her participation was voluntary and acknowledged the potential side effects and risks of “plant-based and Western psychedelic formulations,” the warrant said
She was also given instructions about completing a gastrointestinal/parasite cleanse in the days before the ceremony, and one message told her a “clean gut = potentially deeper ceremony,” the warrant said
A few days before her death, Sodhi received a video from Lee explaining that the “ketamine treatments have a novel ‘ceremonial aspect’ and a ‘clarogenic’ rather than hallucinogenic impact due to the clarity that they bring,” the warrant said
Lee also mentioned the use of over-the-counter GABA supplements to “relax the brain” and three doses of “heart medicine” to increase serotonin and dopamine production and “open the heart,” and an intramuscular injection of ketamine once the “heart medicine is peaking,” the warrant said
In the video, he said the benefits from the 4-6 hour treatment include relief from depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, addiction and stress-related past traumas, the warrant said
The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner later ruled that the mixture of drugs, the parasite cleanser and the sauna led to the extreme dehydration that caused Sodhi’s death
Lee was formally arraigned on the manslaughter charge on Tuesday. His attorneys didn’t want to comment
Sodhi’s family also didn’t wish to speak and asked for privacy
Richard Cooper, an attorney for the wellness center called the death a tragic accident and released a statement on the owner’s behalf
“On behalf of my client we mourn the loss of our friend Tina. This was a tragic accident and her presence will forever be missed. We continue to believe in the power of other safe and proven therapies alternative to and in conjunction with western medicine,” the statement read
Records show the Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended Lee’s medical license following the death, and in Florida, his medical license is listed as expired and delinquent
