Troubling New Allegations Surface After Scientology Doctor Dad of 'RHONY' Star Rebecca Minkoff Sued for Alleged Misdiagnosis in Whitney Mills Suicide Case: Lawsuit
Dr. Minkoff (left) has been named in the lawsuit regarding the wrongful death of Scientologist Whitney Mills (right), court records state.
Sept. 11 2024, Published 2:03 p.m. ET
An amended complaint has been filed in the wrongful death lawsuit involving Whitney Mills, who tragically took her own life on May 13, 2022, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The updated version of the lawsuit includes new allegations and adds Dr. David Minkoff, a prominent Scientologist and father of RHONY star Rebecca Minkoff, and his Clearwater, Florida clinic, LifeWorks Wellness Center, as defendants, according to court documents obtained by The Underground Bunker.
Dr. Minkoff’s daughter Rebecca will star alongside New York co-stars Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Erin Lichy, Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank, and Brynn Whitfield.
As RadarOnline.com previously reported, the lawsuit named six Church of Scientology entities, but the latest filings expand on the role Dr. Minkoff and his clinic are accused of playing in Mills’ treatment leading up to her death.
Dr. Minkoff, a high-ranking Scientologist and co-founder of LifeWorks, has a controversial history that includes his involvement in the 1995 case of Lisa McPherson, a Scientologist who died under suspicious circumstances while in church care.
The church — in calling Whitney’s death 'an unfortunate tragedy' — denied the Mills family's allegations.
Though he never met McPherson, Minkoff prescribed sedatives over the phone to Scientology staff handling her case, according to court documents.
This led to a $100,000 settlement in a wrongful death lawsuit in 1997 and disciplinary action by the Florida Board of Medicine in 2001 and a suspension of his medical license. Despite these sanctions, Minkoff reportedly has continued to treat Scientologists, including Mills, at LifeWorks.
On May 12, 2022, Whitney 'attempted to set herself on fire before inflicting herself with a gunshot wound,' the lawsuit filed in Florida said.
Mills, who joined Scientology in 2007, rose quickly through the organization's ranks to reach the highest level, OT 8, by 2019. Despite the achievement, she began experiencing severe anxiety and other debilitating symptoms in late 2021.
The amended complaint provides extensive details about her treatment at LifeWorks and the care she received from Dr. Minkoff.
She first became a patient at LifeWorks in 2015, and since 2017, she had been diagnosed with various physical ailments, including ovarian cysts, by the clinic’s staff, according to the documents.
Dr. Minkoff assured his patient that she had the support of late Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
In the months before her death, Mills reported severe mental health symptoms, including anxiety, insomnia, hallucinations and the sensation her skin was burning. Despite the signs she could be going through a mental health crisis, Dr. Minkoff and LifeWorks continued to focus on physical diagnoses, including Lyme disease, Babesia (a Lyme co-infection), and other conditions, the complaint shows.
According to the complaint, treatment plans included controversial and unapproved therapies such as ivermectin, herbal remedies and experimental peptides, rather than traditional mental health interventions like antidepressants or anxiety medications.
The complaint also reveals that Mills communicated frequently with Dr. Minkoff, expressing her struggles with mental health and the ineffectiveness of her treatments, as RadarOnline.com previously reported.
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Dr. Minkoff’s responses allegedly often downplayed the severity of Mills' symptoms, attributing them to physical causes and reinforcing Scientology beliefs rather than addressing her need for psychological help.
At one point, the complaint shows, Dr. Minkoff suggested that Mills use Scientology techniques to manage her symptoms, advising her to embrace the idea that her mental distress was just a "sensation" that had "no power over you."
As her condition worsened, Mills repeatedly asked for help with her mental health, but her pleas were largely dismissed or met with advice that aligned with Scientology teachings rather than medical best practices, the lawsuit claims.
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Despite prescribing various alternative treatments, including unapproved Russian peptides, Dr. Minkoff allegedly failed to provide a comprehensive mental health evaluation or appropriate psychiatric care, according to the allegations.
The new claims against Dr. Minkoff and LifeWorks reportedly underscore a significant shift in the focus of the wrongful death lawsuit. While the original complaint highlighted the role of Scientology advisers in Mills’ decline, the amended version dives more into how her medical care — or lack thereof — at LifeWorks contributed to her death.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
