Practicing medicine without a license
In 1995, Young allegedly drew blood from two women, told them they were ill, and then sold them herbal products to treat these illnesses. He was charged with two third-degree
felony counts of practicing medicine without a
license, but
pled guilty to a reduced
misdemeanor charge. Young argued that he had never claimed to be a medical doctor, that the women had
entrapped him by asking to be part of his research, and that he "looked at the women's blood and simply gave them some nutritional advice."
In 2001, Young was again charged with a felony in Utah, after a cancer patient alleged that Young told her to stop
chemotherapy and to substitute one of his products to treat her cancer. Subsequently, when an undercover agent visited Young, he allegedly analyzed her blood and prescribed a liquid diet. The case was taken to preliminary trial, but charges were dropped after the prosecutor stated that he could not find enough people who felt cheated by Young. Young dismissed the arrests as "harassment" and stated that he moved to California because the legal climate there was more tolerant. On May 12, 2011
Quackwatch published a critical analysis of Young's qualifications and practices.
In 2014 Young was arrested in San Diego and received 18 felony charges relating to practicing medicine without a license, and of theft. According to the Medical Board of California's press release chronically ill patients were paying Young up to $50,000 for his treatments. His trial started in Vista Superior Court in November 2015. In February 2016, jurors found Young guilty of two counts of practicing medicine without a license. As of January 2017 he was facing a three-year jail sentence and was also to be retried on six charges of fraud, after a jury deadlocked 8–4. To avoid a retrial, Young pleaded guilty to two more counts of practicing medicine without a license. The 44-month sentence in the plea agreement included a declaration by Young that he has no degrees from any accredited schools, and that he is not "a microbiologist, hematologist, medical doctor, naturopathic doctor, or trained scientist".
Young was sentenced at the end of June 2017.
In November 2018 he was ordered to pay US$105 million to a cancer patient who had sued him for claiming to be a doctor and advising her to forgo traditional medical treatment.
