A New York City resident’s day at a wellness clinic ended in a fatal tragedy over the weekend.
On Monday, the New York City Police Department stated that a 27-year-old woman died Sunday afternoon after she received an “anti-aging therapy” at the Bereshit Lifestyle Center in the Bronx. The NYPD has since charged and arrested the clinic’s professed doctor, Luis Rojas Cabrera, over the woman’s death, which has yet to be fully investigated, police said.
“The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death and the investigation remains ongoing,” the NYPD said in a statement provided to Gizmodo.
An unlicensed doctor?
On Sunday afternoon, police responded to a 911 call at the New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital concerning the woman, who has not been identified by the NYPD. Upon arrival, they were told by hospital staff that the woman had been transported unconscious and unresponsive to the hospital from the Bereshit Lifestyle Center. She was pronounced dead soon afterward.
The center claims to help people with everything from weight loss to immunity boosting. According to its website, Rojas is an active surgeon and naturopath in the Dominican Republic. In the U.S., however, he is apparently only board certified to perform alternative medicine and “holistic health.” The NYPD has formally charged Rojas with reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession.
“It gives me great pleasure to help individuals gain improvement in their health condition and lifestyle through natural methods and simple therapies,” Rojas stated in his biography posted on the website.
Not the first
Though the woman’s cause of death has yet to be determined, this would hardly be the first recent incident of harm or death linked to wellness clinics steeped in alternative medicine and/or promises of longevity.
Just last week, for instance, Miami police charged Samuel Lee for his alleged role in the death of Tina Sodhi more than a year earlier. Sodhi died under Lee’s care during a three-day-long psychedelic retreat, authorities have alleged. And last year, two women fell ill and were hospitalized after receiving peptide injections at an anti-aging conference held in Las Vegas.
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