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LOS ANGELES, Oct. 31 — A man seeking help for a persistent rash died after a nontraditional healer injected him with an unknown substance, police said. The healer and her assistant were charged with manslaughter.
The coroner's office was analyzing the substance. The cause of death for Roberto Caceres, 54, was unknown Thursday.
Four doctors had failed to control Caceres' rash by the time he went to Reina Isabel Chavarria's home office in Van Nuys after hearing of her through Spanish-language newspapers and talking to some of her clients, police said.
Police said Chavarria's assistant Margarita Montes gave the injection to Caceres, who went into convulsions and was taken to a hospital. He died Monday.
Along with involuntary manslaughter, Montes and Chavarria were charged with practicing medicine without a license. Montes, 28, pleaded innocent Wednesday; arraignment for Chavarria, 48, was set for Nov. 19.
Chavarria and Montes were jailed in lieu of $25,000 bail each. They could be sentenced to up to nine years in prison if convicted.
The treatment room contained candles, religious figurines and what appeared to be a shrine made up of voodoo dolls, investigators said. A dog slept on the treatment table that was used to give injections, homicide Detective Al Aldaz said.
''This should be a warning for people to have more confidence in traditional medicine instead of being treated by somebody rubbing an egg on their back or giving them herbs or ointments,'' Aldaz said. ''The person receiving these treatments had no idea of where they got this medicine or even if it's clean.''

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