Doctor Charged With Manslaughter In Death Of Tina Sodhi

Photo: Facebook

India-West News Desk

MIAMI BEACH, FL – A Florida physician has been charged with manslaughter following the death of Tina Sodhi who participated in a psychedelic “heart protocol” ceremony at a Miami Beach wellness retreat.

Samuel Lee, 44, was charged on July 14 in connection with the February 10, 2025 death of Sodhi.

Authorities saySodhi paid $2,000 to attend the ceremony at Sabia Wellness House, where she was given ketamine, MDMA and the psychedelic drug DMT.

Police and fire rescue crews responded after Sodhi was reported unresponsive at the wellness center. She was found inside a sauna, where Lee was performing CPR when officers arrived. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner concluded that a combination of the drugs administered during the ceremony, a parasite cleanse completed beforehand and exposure to the sauna caused the severe dehydration that led to Sodhi’s death.

Investigators recovered emails, text messages and payment records related to the ceremony. The records included instructions to complete a gastrointestinal and parasite cleanse before the session, with one message stating that a “clean gut = potentially deeper ceremony.” Court documents also said Sodhi signed a waiver acknowledging the potential risks associated with “plant-based and Western psychedelic formulations.”

According to the arrest warrant, Lee sent Sodhi a video explaining the ceremony, saying participants would receive GABA supplements, three doses of what he called “heart medicine,” followed by a ketamine injection. He claimed the treatment could help relieve depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, addiction and stress-related trauma.

Lee later told investigators he was a licensed physician and an “elder” of the Eternal Life Tribe, but said the “heart protocol” was conducted as a sacred sacrament of the church rather than under his medical license.

Richard Cooper, an attorney representing Sabia Wellness House, called the death “a tragic accident” and said the wellness center continues to believe in safe alternative therapies used alongside conventional medicine.

Records also show the Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended Lee’s medical license after Sodhi’s death, while his Florida medical license is listed as expired and delinquent.