‘pH Miracle' author sentenced for practicing medicine without a license
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Robert Oldham Young, the author of the popular 'pH Miracle' book series, was sentenced in a North County courtroom on Wednesday to nearly six years behind bars in state prison for treating a terminally ill woman without proper credentials.
The 73-year-old was found guilty by a jury in February on multiple felony counts, including willful abuse of an elder, theft from an elder and practicing medicine without a license, for administering deceptive treatments to the woman for her liver and thyroid disease.
Gina Migalko, the co-defendant in the case who helped him run his enterprise, was also found guilty on all of the same charges, except for abuse of an elder.
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The sentencing on Wednesday was met with a protest from dozens of supporters of Young and his alternative healing practices outside the Vista courthouse, who described his imprisonment as infringing on 'medical freedom.'
This will be the second prison stint in the longstanding legal saga surrounding the 73-year-old, whose best-selling book series promotes an alkaline diet as opposed to traditional medicine to prevent and fight critical diseases like cancer.
He has faced both criminal and civil sanctions for treating terminal patients over the years, many of whom saw their conditions deteriorate or ultimately died.
Young was first convicted on a misdemeanor charge of practicing medicine without proper credentials in 1996, when he was living in Utah. He was convicted a second time in 2016 on felony charges for treating critical patients at his Valley Center ranch while unlicensed.
Prosecutors in the second trial argued Young sold therapies like the intravenous injection of baking soda to these patients that were priced at tens of thousands of dollars — some upwards of $100,000 — knowing they would not work to treat their ailments.
The following year, a jury awarded $105 million to one such cancer patient who said the author had advised her to forgo traditional medical treatment in favor of his therapies, causing her condition to worsen to an incurable stage. The penalty was later reduced to $25 million.
Jane Clayson, a longtime friend of the author and the victim in the latest case, said she gave Young thousands of dollars for treatments and products like pH Miracle-branded supplements that he claimed would help with her ailments. He also advised her to forgo traditional medicine.
This, she said, contributed to her disease worsening, leading to nearly two dozen hospitalizations and other complications.
'For years, I believed Robert Young's promises and I trusted him with my life,' Clayson wrote in a victim impact letter to the court. 'He looked me in the eyes and told me he could heal me, and I believed him … It was such a sham.'
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Deputy District Attorney Gina Darvas added in Wednesday's sentencing that Young made a number of misleading claims to add credibility to his 'pseudoscience,' such as his holding of a doctorate or work in scientific fields, and did not care if pushing it as the answer to her condition risked her life.
In arguing for a probationary sentence, Young's defense attorneys retorted, saying the blame for the deterioration of Clayson's health is overstated. They further said his alternative medical advice reflects 'honest held beliefs,' albeit misguided, and imprisonment for holding certain values would not be appropriate.
San Diego Superior Court Judge Laura Duffy ultimately handed down a sentence of five years and eight months, saying probation would not be appropriate given his criminal history, past conduct and the facts of the case. Migalko, the counter-defendant in the case, will be sentenced in June.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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