(CNN) — A herbalist who recommended an herbal treatment for a 13-year-old boy with type 1 diabetes instead of life-saving insulin, leading to the boy's death, has been sentenced to prison, Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer announced Monday.
In August 2014, Timothy Morrow visited the boy, who was then seriously ill with complications from diabetes, and told his parents not to give him the insulin his pediatrician had prescribed. Instead, Morrow recommended an herbal product that he sold.
The boy died the next day from cardiac arrest, a death the coroner said could have been prevented with proper medical treatment, according to a statement from Feuer's office.
“This case highlights the serious health and safety risks of receiving medical advice from someone who does not have a license or the appropriate training that goes with it,” Feuer said in a statement Monday.
Morrow was convicted of practicing medicine without a license and sentenced to 120 days in county jail, and also pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of child abuse, both misdemeanors, according to city attorney spokesman Frank Matelyan.
In addition, Morrow was sentenced to 48 months of informal probation, paid a $5,000 fine, ordered to add warning labels to his herbal products, paid for the boy's funeral expenses, and completed a one-year counseling program for child abusers. Morrow was advised that he could face murder charges if he was involved in any future deaths.
Morrow must also remove all of his media that promotes herbs over medical treatment, such as a YouTube video in which he claims that “insulin is highly toxic to the body” and that watermelon, zucchini and green beans are “natural insulin.”
The boy's mother, Maria Madrigal, said in court this month that she trusted Dr. Morrow's medical advice and attended his classes, CNN affiliate KABC reported.
“He told me, no, no, don't listen to what they say, everything's fine,” Madrigal said. “He assured me his life was not in danger.”
She has not been charged, Matelyan said.
