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According to the lawsuit, the Church of Scientology prevented the woman from receiving mental health treatment before her suicide.
In the lawsuit, Whitney Mills, 40, was a high-ranking Scientologist who worked as a real estate agent before her death in 2022, her mother, Layla Mills, said.
Mills suffered from mental illness and was hospitalized twice. She experienced insomnia, anxiety and a rapid heart rate before her death, according to the lawsuit, which alleges church officials failed to prevent her death under their watch.
A Church of Scientology spokesman said: Tampa Bay Times Mills’ death was an “unfortunate tragedy” but the church did not care for her.
“Church policy is very clear: if a Scientologist requires medical care, they must seek medical advice,” a spokesperson told the paper. “Any decisions regarding medical treatment are entirely individual. The Church does not provide medical advice.”
Independent The Church of Scientology has been contacted for comment.
In a lawsuit filed by Layla Mills on May 11 in Pinellas County Circuit Court in Florida, she claims that in February 2022, members of the Sea Org, a Scientology dispatch organization, lived with Mills in her apartment in downtown Clearwater, Florida, and were instructed to monitor her 24 hours a day.
The lawsuit includes emails between Mills and Sea Org staff in which Mills discusses symptoms including anxiety and extreme head pressure, and says she feels her symptoms are getting worse.
“I feel like I’m dying, I’m experiencing psychosis, anxiety and panic. … I can’t stop having bad thoughts,” Mills said in an email on March 12, 2022.
According to the lawsuit, Scientology doctor David Minkoff was assigned to treat Mills, but he misdiagnosed her with Lyme disease and cancer and ignored “her very serious psychiatric and mental health crisis.”
Instead of recommending mental health treatment, Minkoff allegedly prescribed her $20,000 in anti-parasitic medication, according to the lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, Mills begged the doctor to “please provide an alternative treatment,” but the doctor responded with “quack treatments.”
Independent The Times has reached out to Minkoff for comment. Minkoff was not named in the lawsuit, but a Miami law firm representing Mills’ estate served notice on Minkoff, which is required by law before filing a malpractice lawsuit against a doctor.
“I can’t stand another day of this horrible movie I’m living through,” she texted one of her Sea Org caregivers on May 1, 2022.
The lawsuit seeks to prove that Mills was suicidal based on her request to undergo a Scientology ritual that prepares her physical soul (known as a thetan in Scientology terminology) to leave her body. On April 20, 2022, Mills reportedly asked a caretaker to oversee an “auditing” session to help her “leave her body,” saying she learned about the practice from another caretaker.
The lawsuit alleges that after making that request in April 2022, Mills’ caregivers “intentionally or negligently” left her alone for several hours on May 12, 2022. Mills committed suicide that day.
A Church of Scientology spokesman said: Tampa Bay Times Scientology has no rituals for preparing the body for death, but a former Sea Org member who ran the auditing sessions told the paper that not only does one exist, but that it was invented by founder L. Ron Hubbard himself.
“If that’s what she wanted, she clearly wanted death,” former Scientologist Bruce Hines told the paper.
Layla Mills’ lawsuit alleges that the church’s aversion to modern mental health treatments “deprived her of accurate medical care.” [Mills] Is required.”
“Minkoff had a duty to refer Mills to a mental health professional even if his religious beliefs prohibited it,” the lawsuit states.
The family alleges that the Church of Scientology assumed responsibility for Mills’ care and is therefore liable for her death. The lawsuit names six Scientology entities as defendants on three counts of negligence, including wrongful death. The complaint does not specify how much the family is seeking in damages.
