Founder of pH Miracle Diet and Co-Defendant Sentenced to Prison for Fraudulently Treating Patient

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said today that Robert O. Young and Galina Migalko have been sentenced to prison for their fraudulent medical treatment of a 79-year-old woman with a life-threatening liver illness.

Young, 73, and co-defendant Migalko, 61, were found guilty by a North County jury in February of several felony counts, including two counts of practicing without a medical license, and one count of theft from an elder. Young was also found guilty of willful abuse of an elder and was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison on May 28. Migalko received a four years and four months sentence today.

“It is unconscionable that this defendant continued to treat patients for serious illnesses when he had twice been convicted of practicing medicine without a license and has nothing more than a high school education and purchased ‘degrees’ from unaccredited correspondence schools,” DA Stephan said. “His fraudulent treatments did not address the serious illnesses of his patients, putting them at serious risk.”

Young developed the pH Miracle diet, a controversial health regimen centered around the belief that cancer and other life-threatening illnesses can be treated with an all-vegetable smoothie diet and other treatments, including intravenous infusions of sodium bicarbonate—commonly known as baking soda, to “alkalinize” the body. Young’s “theory” has been soundly debunked by the medical community but continues to circulate in the conspiracy theory community. In this criminal case, he and Migalko convinced a 79-year-old woman with a life-threatening liver illness to walk away from her medical doctors, seriously jeopardizing her life. They treated the victim for liver disease from September 2020 to January 2021.

Despite being convicted previously of practicing medicine without a license, Young continued to ignore state laws and illegally treat patients.

To check if a physician is properly licensed and accredited, patients can visit California’s Medical Board website, which offers a searchable database of licensed practitioners. There, individuals can verify that the physician holds an active license and review any disciplinary actions or malpractice history. Additionally, patients can confirm board certification through the American Board of Medical Specialties website which ensures the doctor has met rigorous standards in a medical specialty.

Deputy DA Gina Darvas and Stephen Spinella prosecuted this case.