SAN DIEGO — A man who was convicted twice for posing as a medical doctor without a license, and currently faces new felony charges, continues to peddle his products online.
Robert O. Young, founder, and author of the pH Miracle Diet was convicted in 1996 as well as in 2017 for practicing without a license.
The self-proclaimed doctor, who admitted in court to not having attended medical school, gained notoriety for his theory that lowering the acid in one's bloodstream could cure cancer and other diseases, or, in his words that “cancer is not a cell, but an acidic, poisonous liquid."
To lower a person's acidity, Young injected baking soda into patients’ bodies and urged them to drink vegetable smoothies.
Several terminally ill patients paid to receive these treatments at Young's pH Miracle Ranch, a sprawling 48-acre property in Valley Center.
As first reported by CBS 8, the San Diego County District Attorney filed new felony charges against Young and his partner, Galina Migalko, in 2022 alleging that Young committed elder abuse, treated the sick without a certificate, and embezzled money from an elderly patient under his care and supervision.
According to one woman who contacted CBS 8, Young is still practicing and peddling his natural pH medicines, even as his August 23 felony trial date quickly approached.
"I saw all about his criminal past and I was like, are you kidding me," said Laurie Johnson who discovered CBS 8's reporting after searching the internet for information on Young. "My message to him is, you're going down again."
Johnson, a resident of Wasila, Alaska, tells CBS 8 that she was once featured in Young's pH Miracle Diet book, and despite numerous factual errors has been a customer for a number of years.
"He's a liar. He's a liar, and a cheat, and a thief," Johnson told CBS 8. "It's unbelievable that a convicted criminal can continue to be distrustful and ruin so many lives. For the love of Jesus, injecting baking soda into that poor woman. It's just not right it's not right that people like that can get away with it."
And while Young continues to push his pH Miracle Products online, he also is busy posting videos on his YouTube page, as recently as last year, claiming that his pH Miracle "can help prevent and or reverse any cancerous condition."
Meanwhile, the 48-acre ranch in Valley Center that law enforcement stormed in a 2013 raid, where, according to court documents, Young treated numerous cancer patients, some of which died soon thereafter, is now officially out of Young's possession.
Court documents obtained by CBS 8 show that the Valley Center Ranch was finally sold in March 2023, the proceeds of which went toward paying what was a $105 million legal judgment against Young in favor of a former patient and employee of his, Dawn Kali.
Kali, who spoke to CBS 8 last year, called Young a "danger to society."
The March 2023 sale of what was once known as the pH Miracle Ranch, came after years of legal wrangling, including allegations that Young and his son tried to interfere with the sale of the property.
CBS 8 reached out to Young's attorney for comment as well as attempted to reach Young on his website, however, no one responded.
CBS 8 also reached out to the District Attorney's Office which is now heading up Young's prosecution. The DA, however, was unable to comment due to the fact that the trial is approaching.
Meanwhile, Johnson who recently discovered Young's past fears others will fall prey.
"I went and looked him up and it was like holy s*#t creek are you kidding me. I am college educated, he's not. it's unbelievable."