{"id":301782,"date":"2025-07-29T17:45:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:45:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301782\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T17:45:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:45:12","slug":"investigation-underway-after-two-women-fell-ill-at-raadfest-a-las-vegas-anti-aging-conference-propublica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301782\/","title":{"rendered":"Investigation Underway After Two Women Fell Ill at RAADFest, a Las Vegas Anti-Aging Conference \u2014 ProPublica"},"content":{"rendered":"

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up for Dispatches<\/a>, a newsletter that spotlights wrongdoing around the country, to receive our stories in your inbox every week.<\/p>\n

They went to a Las Vegas conference this month that promised pathways to an \u201cunlimited lifespan.\u201d But at least two attendees left in ambulances and were hospitalized in critical condition, requiring ventilators to breathe.<\/p>\n

The two women, who are recovering, fell ill after receiving peptide injections at a conference booth. The doctor who ran the booth was a Los Angeles physician specializing in \u201cage reversal\u201d therapies who did not have permission to practice medicine or dispense prescriptions in Nevada. Public health investigators are trying to determine if anyone else who attended the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival experienced a similar illness.<\/p>\n

The investigation comes as peptides grow in popularity, thanks in part to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s promotion of the amino acid chains as a way to fight aging and chronic disease. Since becoming Health and Human Services secretary, Kennedy<\/a> has vowed<\/a> to end the Food and Drug Administration\u2019s \u201cwar on peptides<\/a>\u201d and other alternative health therapies. Kent Holtorf, the doctor overseeing the booth where the women became ill, also has called for less regulation of alternative therapies and has criticized the FDA for blocking compounds he sees as lifesaving.<\/p>\n

Holtorf told ProPublica he is cooperating with the investigation. \u201cOf course, I want to get to the bottom of it. But almost assuredly it will come out that it was not the peptides.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he became convinced the peptides weren\u2019t the cause of the severe reactions after plugging everything he knows about the incident into an artificial intelligence app, which he said gave him a 57-page report that \u201cbasically says that it is impossible it was the peptides.\u201d He refused to comment on what the report attributed the illnesses to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it was the peptides, but I don\u2019t want to try and push the blame and say it wasn\u2019t us,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are reassessing everything we are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holtorf acknowledged he is not licensed in Nevada but said he hired a practitioner who is and did not personally write prescriptions or administer therapies at his booth. \u201cI knew what was going on but was not hands on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He described the situation as \u201chorrific\u201d and \u201cunacceptable\u201d and said he\u2019s \u201cterribly sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FDA has approved dozens of peptide-based medications for treating serious health problems such as cancer, obesity and diabetes. But peptide therapies for anti-aging and regenerative health are largely made by compounding pharmacists who use peptide components to formulate drugs that aren\u2019t commercially available or approved for that particular use. Compounded drugs are not reviewed for safety and efficacy by the FDA. The agency also has found \u201csignificant safety risks\u201d with at least 18 of the most popular peptide compounding components.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnyone who undergoes any sort of medical treatment, no matter how benign, needs to be very wary that even the most benign intervention can have fatal side effects,\u201d said Dr. Amy Gutman, a Florida emergency room doctor who speaks about metabolic research and ketogenic diets and appeared at RAADFest. \u201cAnd if you are in a hotel and don\u2019t have lifesaving equipment near you, then that is a risk you have to be aware of.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two women, a 38-year-old from California and a 51-year-old from Nevada, received injections on July 13 at RAADFest, which is organized by an Arizona-based nonprofit that has built a community hoping to cheat death. According to a police report, both were injected at a booth run by Holtorf, who is licensed in California but not Nevada. Holtorf\u2019s advocacy for alternative therapies has invited controversy in the past, including his criticism of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine in a Fox News interview in 2009. More recently, his practice was advised by the Federal Trade Commission<\/a> to cease making claims on its website that his peptide therapies could treat or prevent COVID-19. Holtorf said he removed the claims from his website even though he still believes certain peptides can be beneficial in treating COVID-19 and other viral infections.<\/p>\n

Both the Southern Nevada Health District and the Nevada Board of Pharmacy confirmed they are investigating what led to the hospitalizations after being notified by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police that possibly as many as seven people at the conference were hospitalized. According to the police report, detectives were unable to confirm whether additional attendees got sick.<\/p>\n

Investigators are examining whether the illnesses were caused by an infection, contamination related to the injections or an issue with the medication itself, according to documents obtained by ProPublica. The two women who were taken by ambulance to the hospital reported feeling as if their tongues were swelling and had trouble breathing and increased heart rates. By the time they reached the hospital, one was already intubated and the other had lost muscle control in her neck and couldn\u2019t open her eyes or communicate with doctors, according to the police report.<\/p>\n

Holtorf said he was \u201cso freaked out\u201d by what happened because none of the women\u2019s symptoms \u201cmade any sense.\u201d In 30 years of providing such treatments, he said he\u2019s never seen such a reaction.<\/p>\n

Event organizer James Strole, an Arizona businessman who has built a 50-year career selling the promise of eternal life to followers, said the two patients are recovering after several days in the hospital. He said \u201cit\u2019s not clear the people got sick as a result of treatment from Dr. Holtorf,\u201d adding he\u2019s \u201canxious\u201d for the illnesses to be \u201cdeeply investigated.\u201d He said nothing similar has happened in the 10 years he has been producing RAADFest.<\/p>\n

This is the first year Holtorf offered therapies at the conference, Strole said. He added that Holtorf provided the therapies to 60 people at the event and has attempted to reach them to learn whether they experienced any problems. Holtorf said only six patients received peptides.<\/p>\n

Strole said the coalition\u2019s science board scrutinizes therapy providers before granting them permission to operate a booth in the conference\u2019s exhibition hall, which organizers referred to as a clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big concern is safety,\u201d he said. \u201cWe look at who is doing the administering, whether it\u2019s an injection or supplement. We look at the person and the company itself, what the efficacy is, how they operate, their safety measures. We look at all that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strole said peptides are considered \u201cgenerally safe\u201d when taken under the direction of a doctor, adding that he takes them regularly. Holtorf also said he believes they are safe and that they saved his life when he was a young man suffering from a severe illness.<\/p>\n

A review by ProPublica of both the pharmacy and medical board license databases showed no Nevada licenses for Holtorf or his medical practice. Out-of-state doctors who come to provide care at a conference such as RAADfest are required to obtain a special event license from the Nevada Board of Medical Examiners. (As of Friday, 103 doctors had obtained such a license.) To dispense or possess pharmaceuticals, practitioners must also be licensed by the Nevada Board of Pharmacy. RAADFest\u2019s organizers, however, said they were unaware that Holtorf is not licensed to provide medical care or dispense medications in the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn order to practice medicine in the state, you must be licensed,\u201d said David Wuest, executive secretary of the Nevada Board of Pharmacy.<\/p>\n

The Nevada Legislature has passed stricter laws as alternative therapies have become popular outside traditional medical settings. In 2017, for example, the state banned so-called Botox parties, requiring the anti-wrinkle injections only be administered in a medical office or spa equipped to deal with life-threatening emergencies. But beyond its standard medical licensing requirements, the state doesn\u2019t have rules governing an event like RAADFest, where attendees receive an array of anti-aging therapies including gene therapies, peptide injections, dialysis-like blood detoxification, bone scans and light therapy.<\/p>\n

Strole said he wasn\u2019t aware that providers need a special in-state license to provide the type of therapies Holtorf offered, which he described as \u201cneutraceuticals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never heard they had to get from the state permission to do that under the auspices of giving a treatment of that nature, that\u2019s not actually treating some disease or something,\u201d Strole said.<\/p>\n

According to the police report, Holtorf contracted with a Nevada-licensed nurse practitioner, who administered the injection to one of the women. He also contracted with another doctor, who mixed the vials and administered the injection to the second woman, the report said. That doctor does not appear to have the necessary Nevada licenses.<\/p>\n

Holtorf declined to comment on the practitioners he hired for the event, other than to say he had worked with the doctor in the past.<\/p>\n

Wuest said multiple providers might be investigated, but he wouldn\u2019t confirm whether Holtorf is a subject of the probe. The board also is investigating whether the therapy provided to the patients required a medical or pharmaceutical license. The FDA is assisting in the investigation to determine what was in the injections, including whether it was a manufactured pharmaceutical or a compounded medication, Wuest said.<\/p>\n

Holtorf\u2019s medical practice and the peptide company he founded are affiliated with an organization, Forgotten Formula, that asserts a constitutional right to provide treatments as they see fit. On its website, the private membership association warns \u201call bodies in the public sector\u201d that they \u201cdo not have any jurisdiction\u201d over their doctors. \u201cAll doctors, healers, and members are protected under the shield of this organization,\u201d the website says. \u201cWe operate member to member. Ignoring this disclaimer can lead to legal consequences against the party at fault.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the police report, Holtorf told officers he obtained the peptides dispensed at the festival from Forgotten Formula. In the interview with ProPublica, however, he denied that, saying he\u2019s not sure which of the many manufacturers he works with provided the peptides used at the booth.<\/p>\n

The women received different peptide concoctions, according to the police report. Both included at least one component described by the FDA as posing significant risks when compounded. Holtorf said it is difficult to keep up with which peptides are banned and which are still acceptable for compounding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much gray area,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople know they just get patients better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the FDA warnings, peptides were popular among RAADFest attendees who were promised \u201cbeautiful life-saving therapies\u201d at the event\u2019s clinic. Event organizers touted that 70 longevity experts would be on hand during the four-day event at the Red Rock Casino Resort Spa but did not list the vendors providing treatments on the event website.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a RAAD clinic, where people will be able to come in at discounted prices and try and do these therapies safely with doctors,\u201d Strole told a Las Vegas TV news program<\/a> while promoting the event.<\/p>\n

Strole is executive director of the Scottsdale, Arizona-based Coalition for Radical Life Extension, one of a cluster of for-profit and nonprofit entities devoted to helping people achieve immortality founded by Strole and two \u201cimmortalist\u201d business partners. Of the three co-founders, only Strole, who is in his 70s, is still alive.<\/p>\n

Charles Brown, the original founder, claimed to have had a spiritual experience in the 1950s that showed him the path to immortality and proclaimed he could share that path with others, according to an Arizona Republic story<\/a>. Brown died of Parkinson\u2019s disease in 2014. His wife, Bernadeane \u201cBernie\u201d Brown, who operated the for-profit People Unlimited with Strole, died of breast cancer in 2024. Her body is said to have been cryogenically preserved<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n He Was Asked About His Tattoos and a TikTok Video in Court. Five Days Later, He Was in a Salvadoran Prison.<\/strong>\n <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The nonprofit organizes the annual anti-aging festival, which charges more than $400 for a ticket, while People Unlimited offers monthly memberships for as much as $255 a month, according to its website. Members get access to weekly meetings, where Strole delivers motivational sermons on immortality and age reversal, as well as talks by guest speakers on wellness, discounts on \u201clongevity protocols\u201d and access to a community of people who \u201cwant you to live as much as they want to live.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gutman, the Florida emergency room doctor, spoke at the event earlier this month, her first time attending RAADFest. She left before the last day, when the two women were hospitalized, and hadn\u2019t heard about the incident before a reporter called. But she said their symptoms \u2014 swollen tongue, trouble breathing, increased heart rate \u2014 sounded like an allergic reaction, which she said isn\u2019t terribly common in peptide injections. But she cautioned that before injection the drugs are mixed with an agent that can sometimes pose problems.<\/p>\n

Although she was skeptical of some of the therapies provided at the festival\u2019s clinic, she said everyone she met there seemed to have \u201ctheir heart in the right place\u201d and genuinely wanted to help others \u201clive their best lives.\u201d<\/p>\n