A 27-year-old woman has died after receiving an anti-aging injection at a holistic wellness center in the Bronx, and police have arrested the man who founded the business. Authorities say he did not have a license to practice medicine in the United States, and his center on Riverdale Avenue has been closed as the investigation unfolds.
The victim was identified as Elizabeth Barron. Authorities say she went into medical distress at the center while getting the anti-aging injection on Sunday afternoon. She was rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead, a sudden loss that stunned those who knew her at her nearby apartment building, where staff described her as a young woman who was sweet and generous.
The center's founder, Luis Rojas Cabrera, is now in police custody. On the business, he goes by the name Dr. Rojas, and the center's website leans on phrases such as running towards nature and may your food be your medicine and medicine be your food, listing specialties that include hydrotherapy and nutrition.
On that same website, Rojas claims to have performed more than 6,000 surgeries and to have completed his medical training in Santo Domingo, describing himself as a surgeon since 2002. In a personal note, he wrote that he comes from a family of medical professionals and that, at the age of 11, he was allowed to assist his mother in various nursing and medical procedures.
But authorities pointed to one significant problem. While the 55-year-old is licensed in the Dominican Republic, he is not licensed to practice in the United States. That gap sits at the center of the criminal case now taking shape against him following the death at his Bronx wellness center.
So far, Rojas has been charged with reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession. Officials said an autopsy will help determine whether he is hit with additional charges, as medical examiners work to establish exactly what caused Barron to collapse and die after the injection.
For now, the wellness center on Riverdale Avenue sits shuttered, its founder in custody, as the investigation continues. Elizabeth Barron's family said their focus is on sorting everything out in the wake of her sudden death, while neighbors near her apartment struggled to make sense of the loss of a woman remembered for her kindness.