pH Miracle author Robert Young ordered to pay cancer patient $US105 million
Nov 5, 2018 - A San Diego jury has ordered the author of the bestselling pH Miracle books to pay $US105 million ($146 million) to a cancer patient who said the author held himself out as a doctor and counselled her to forego traditional medical treatment.
The award - more than double what the woman had sought - was ordered about 16 months after a criminal case ended with the author, Robert Oldham Young, going to jail for a few months for practising medicine without a licence.
Young - who on Friday called the judgment "a fraud" - has written several books, including the bestselling The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health. First published in 2002, the book has been translated into several languages.
"It's totally outrageous," Young said of the verdict on Friday. "It's one-tenth of a billion."
Young's work - and treatments provided at his Valley Center ranch - were based on the theory that acidity in the body is the cause of disease, and that an alkaline diet is the answer.
In 2015, cancer patient Dawn Kali sued Young in San Diego Superior Court alleging negligence and fraud. She said he advised her to forego chemotherapy and traditional treatment, and instead go with treatment in line with his alkaline theories.
Patrick Swan, one of Kali's attorneys, said his 45-year-old client's oncologist said Kali has about three or four years to live. She now has stage 4 cancer.
The civil trial in San Diego Superior Court lasted about seven days, with deliberations lasting less than half a day. The verdict came back on Wednesday.
The $US105 million award includes nearly $US90 million for pain and suffering, and $US15 million as punitive damages.
Swan said Kali feels "vindicated" by the verdict.
"The jury listened carefully and understood the gravity of the evidence, and rendered a verdict that was commensurate with the damage Ms Kali suffered, and will suffer," Swan said.
He also said he hopes the verdict "will have an effect on the "miracle, cure-all cancer industry".