‘I was supposed to get my paycheck today’: Worker at shut-down ketamine clinic says company removed $2,000 from her account
A worker at a ketamine clinic went to TikTok to report on the clinic's abrupt closing and its potential impact on patients who utilized its services for treating depression, chronic pain, and post-traumatic stress disorder—as well as having money removed from her account.
The video comes from creator Strawberry (@strawberry.probably), getting more than 419,000 views since going up on the platform with it on March 15. In it, she starts out with the alarming statement, "Update on my company shutting down, firing everybody and abandoning all their critically mentally ill patients with literally zero notice."
@strawberry.probably K3T@M1N3 SCANDAL UPDATE WTF
♬ original sound - strawberry, probably
She then reveals that it's 3 a.m. at the time she's recording the video, she's looked at her bank account, and she has negative $2,000 in her bank account.
According to an NBC News article that she pointed to in a follow-up video, the Ketamine Wellness Centers closed all 13 of its sites in nine different states on March 10. Her TikTok detailed how the abrupt shuttering of the facilities left both workers and patients in a bind.
"We were the largest ketamine infusion provider in the entire country," she noted. "I'm pretty sure this is gonna be—I hope it's big news; it's a big fucking deal."
"From the employee side, it sucks," she went on to say. "They called Friday afternoon, email went out and they're like, 'You're all fired. Don't come in on Monday.'"
She contends that the money came out of her account. While sketchy on the details and admitting, "I don't know money," Strawberry explains, "It's something like a payday lender that they normally lend the money, and then my company deposits—"
She then interrupted herself by saying, "I can't touch anything," presumably referring to not being able to access the account.
Despite being concerned about her own situation, she seems more concerned about the patients her clinic served.
"There are patients who fly to clinics to get their treatment and get hotels," she explains, "and the way that they found out that they are not getting treatment, the way they found out our clinics are shut down, is they showed up at the clinic and nobody was there. These are people who have life-threatening mental illnesses and debilitating physical pain."
She also reveals that in the run-up to the announcement, her CEO reached out to her and told her to shut down their affiliated Facebook page. Strawberry says she just put it on pause.
Follow-up videos on her account included notice of the NBC News article—according to the creator, this was the fruit of efforts from patients to get media coverage for the closings.
@strawberry.probably Replying to @mizunderstood1974 ♬ original sound - strawberry, probably
Comments on the original TikTok video showed some confusion about how ketamine therapy is utilized or even what it is.
"Ketamine is what killed Michael Jackson?" one person asked. "This is a scam company?"
"I can't tell if this is sarcasm but that's not how MJ died," the creator responded.
But others understood its value, with one noting, "It saved my life after trying several other options for years."
Others offered advice about legal options and how the creator should conduct herself in the wake of what happened.
"Shut your cake hole and lawyer up," one said bluntly, adding, "Immediately."
Strawberry responded, "Respectfully, no."
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment for more information.
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The post ‘I was supposed to get my paycheck today’: Worker at shut-down ketamine clinic says company removed $2,000 from her account appeared first on The Daily Dot.