Rojas Cabrera, who couldn't be reached for comment, is next due in court on Sept. 9.
A dodgy doctor allegedly injected a Bronx woman before she died with a trendy supposed anti-aging molecule boosted by wellness-chasing celebrities such as Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner, prosecutors revealed.
Elizabeth Baron, 27, immediately went into cardiac arrest Sunday after alleged quack Luis Rojas Cabrera, 55, hooked her up to an IV administering NAD+ — despite not being licensed to practice medicine in New York or the US, according to court documents and prosecutors.
“Administering NAD+ via an IV requires a prescription from a medical professional,” said Assistant District Attorney Ethan Reisbaum during Rojas Cabrera’s arraignment late Monday on reckless endangerment and unauthorized practice of a profession charges.
Elizabeth Baron, 27, died after allegedly receiving an NAD+ IV from a Bronx clinic. Facebook/Maria Carrasquilla Luis Rojas Cabrera, who’s not licensed to practice medicine in New York, allegedly gave Baron an NAD+ IV without a prescription — which is illegal. William C Lopez/NY PostAn unconscious Baron was rushed to a hospital after the injection, where doctors pronounced her dead, according to a GoFundMe organized to help her family pay for funeral expenses.
“Elizabeth was a beautiful daughter, sister, and friend whose kindness, warmth, and vibrant spirit touched so many lives,” the fundraiser states.
“Her passing has left an unimaginable void in the hearts of everyone who knew and loved her.”
The exact cause of Baron’s death remained unclear as an autopsy by the city’s medical examiner was pending, but shined a harsh light on NAD+ — a molecule increasingly hyped in woo-woo health circles as a miracle but viewed skeptically by many experts.
Bieber, a 29-year-old model seemingly in no need of “Fountain of Youth” treatments, rhapsodized over it during a 2022 episode of “The Kardashians.” She received IV drips filled with the coenzyme alongside Jenner, 30.
Kendall Jenner helped popularize NAD+ infusions after receiving one with her friend Hailey Bieber. HULU“I’m going to NAD for the rest of my life and I’m never going to age,” Bieber gushed.
Podcaster Joe Rogan, who often raves about unproven and suspect health trends, has likewise claimed NAD+ benefits the immune system and cognition.
“You just feel fantastic. You feel really good,” he said in a 2024 episode of his podcast.
The buzz fueled an explosion of NAD+ offerings at wellness clinics across the US, including upscale offerings in the Big Apple.
“I’m never going to age,” Hailey Bieber raved about the supposed benefits of NAD+. HULUBut many experts have said the claims are greatly overblown, often nonsensical and require more research.
The molecule — technically named nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide — is a coenzyme naturally found in cells, with many researchers finding depletion could be linked to aging.
Michael Sagner, a clinical adviser at King’s College in the UK, told The Guardian that there was little evidence that NAD+ infused into the bloodstream — such as through an IV — enters cells.
“That’s why it’s completely idiotic from a biochemistry point of view to inject yourself with NAD itself,” he told the outlet.
Rojas Cabrera ran Bereshit Lifestyle Center, a Riverdale wellness center that offers “natural medicine” and therapies as well as products geared toward “making healthy living easy,” according to its website.
He told authorities that he was licensed to practice medicine in the Dominican Republic and held a physicians assistant license in Puerto Rico, court documents state.
“I am not a licensed doctor in New York,” he allegedly admitted, according to the documents. “My application is pending. I only have an esthetician license.”
After Baron went into cardiac arrest, Rojas Cabrera allegedly told a police officer, “I made a very big mistake. I need to call my family because I have a feeling I will not be home for a while,” the court documents state.
Rojas Cabrera was released because the charges against him aren’t bail eligible, but prosecutors did successfully request that he surrender his passport within 48 hours to make sure he returns to court.
Elizabeth Baron pictured with her family in a social media post from 2022. Facebook/Maria CarrasquillaReisbaum said prosecutors were waiting on autopsy results before deciding whether to charge Rojas Cabrera in Baron’s death.
“Before we get the results of the autopsy, we can’t make the causation and charge him with her death,” she said in court.
One of Rojas Cabrera’s neighbors in Passaic, New Jersey, was surprised to learn about his arrest.
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“He introduced himself to my father,” the neighbor said. “He just said that he was a doctor.”
The alleged phony physician is also no stranger to criminal trouble. He was twice arrested in a four-day span at Newark Airport during November, prosecutors and sources said.
The first arrest unfolded after Rojas Cabrera returned from the Dominican Republic with a metal baton, prosecutors said.
After going back to the Dominican Republic a day or so later, Rojas Cabrera again was busted at the airport – this time for allegedly carrying nearly 200 vials of prescription medications and 30 tablets and 10 syringes of lidocaine, a local anesthetic, according to sources.
The status of those cases wasn’t immediately clear.
Rojas Cabrera, who couldn’t be reached for comment, is next due in court on Sept. 9.