Rochester man says he fell violently ill during Dominican Republic trip

ROCHESTER, Mich. (FOX 2) - Jason Strobel and his wife were vacationing last November with their friends at the Hard Rock Hotel in Puta Canta.

Strobel says he also had a drink from the minibar in his room earlier that day and his stomach started feeling queasy. But later that night after having two drinks he became violently sick.

"All six of us ate at the same place all day, drank from the same bars the only difference was that night I went back to the room and had a couple of drinks from the mini bar," Strobel said. "I think it was one or two vodka drinks.

"I was convulsing. My insides felt like they were burning."

His wife called the front desk of the hotel and within minutes’ medicine arrived at his door.

"They brought three medications to our room," he said. "One is an anti-biotic, one is called Sertal Compuesto, it is not approved in the U.S., and the third one - I don't know what it was."

Strobel found it odd that medicine would arrive when his wife requested something else.

"(She said) 'I feel like my husband is dying where is closet ER, I have to take him,'" he said. "And they said, 'What are his symptoms, don't take him we know what to do.'"

Even though it was their last night in the Dominican Republic, Strobel took some of the medicine and started to feel a little better.

Once he got home to the U.S. he says he thought that bad experience was food poising. But months later when reports emerged about people dying or becoming sick while traveling in the Dominican Republic after drinking alcohol. The FBI has now joined in on the investigation.

"They are looking into it like counterfeit alcohol, that they found in Mexico," he said.

Strobel says he's grateful to be alive, but he's interested in information on any class action lawsuit to hold businesses responsible and ultimately keep travelers safe.

"Something is obviously wrong here," he said. "And it needs to be addressed. I do feel lucky to be alive. I have two little daughters that are 4 and 8 years old, and to think that drinking from the minibar could have risked that."