51-year-old Tina Sodhi was found unresponsive on February 10, 2025, at a wellness home where she took part in a three-day wellness retreat for which she paid $2,000. After over a year, Dr Samul Lee has now been arrested on a second-degree felony manslaughter as medical examiners found that Sodhi was administered drugs like MDMA, ketamine which contributed to the dehydration also caused by prolonged heat exposure inside the sauna. Dehydration was revealed to be the cause of the death.
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Heart Protocol Ceremony
The wellness program that Sodhi took at Sabia Wellness was called Heart Protocol Ceremony, described as a treatment to help participants connect with their higher selves. Sodhi was also made to sign a waiver acknowledging that her participation was voluntary and that she understood the potential risks and side effects of the substances used.
During the investigation, Miami Beach police consulted an independent physician, who concluded that Lee's conduct "reflects an extreme and unjustifiable deviation from accepted safety and clinical practices," court documents state.
Lee's attorney last week entered a plea of not guilty and requested a jury trial. His medical license in Texas has been temporarily suspended, with a board calling his “practice of medicine a threat to public welfare.”
Attorney Richard Cooper representing the owner of Sabia Wellness House said: “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.”
CBS News Miami reported that they visited the property where the ceremony was held but the owner was not present. The father of the owner said his daughter was out of the country. Court documents indicated that the owner also participated in the Heart Protocol ceremony.
