A US judge has ordered a physician charged in the death of a woman during what prosecutors describe as a “heart protocol ceremony” to stop practising medicine while his criminal case moves forward, reports NBC.
State attorneys had filed a manslaughter charge last week against Dr Samuel Lee in connection with the death of patient Tina Sodhi, who was given a cocktail of substances – as well as a parasitic cleanser – followed by a sauna, before she died.
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”.
According to the arrest report, last year, Lee had organised a ceremony at a Miami Beach wellness house where he had given Sodhi a combination of substances including ketamine and MDMA. The Medical Examiner’s toxicology report later revealed that those substances were found in her body as well as DMT, a psychedelic.
The arrest report also notes that she consumed a parasite cleanse that “was recommended” by Lee before she went into the sauna. The report states that her “exposure to an infrared sauna amplified the effects of the substances”.
The Medical Examiner told investigators that the combination of drugs, the parasite cleanser and the sauna, caused Sodhi to become dehydrated, and each alone “significantly contributed” to her death.
Police had responded to the call of an unresponsive female at the wellness centre on 10 February 2025.
At last week’s court appearance, and at the state attorney’s request, the judge imposed additional conditions for Lee’s bail, allowing him to remain out of jail awaiting trial, but prohibiting him from providing any medical, psychological, or psychiatric care while the case is pending.
Lee was also ordered to surrender his passports.
Florida Department of Health records show his state medical licence is now listed as delinquent. Lee is also licensed to practise in Texas, where the state’s medical board temporarily suspended his licence, noting that “his continuation in the practise of medicine poses a continuing threat to public welfare” and citing the death of Sodhi.
Lee has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge and is awaiting trial.
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