You raise an interesting question,
@cmakk1012!
Allow me to give an all too brief answer...
As per OTL, the FDA began an investigation into the Church of Scientology concerning claims the Church made in regard to their "E-Meters". Per Wikipedia: "On January 4th, 1963, FDA agents raided offices of the Church of Scientology, seizing hundreds of E-meters as illegal medical devices and tons of literature that they accused of making false medical claims. The original suit by the FDA to condemn the literature and E-meters did not succeed, but the Court ordered the Church to label every meter with a disclaimer that it is purely religious artifact,to post a $20,000 bond of compliance, and to pay the FDA's legal expenses."
Also like IOTL, L. Ron Hubbard's defeats in Court led to an increasingly precipitous descent into isolation, despair, and mental illness. ITTL, he would be arrested in 1974 in his apartment in Queens, New York, having been indicted for ties to instances of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. Hubbard would fight these charges with every available legal avenue, but would ultimately be defeated in court, resulting in several hefty fines and spending the remainder of his life in prison. Though David Miscavige would rise to take up Hubbard's mantle as leader of the Church, its influence was dramatically reduced as a result of its very public defeats in the legal system. By the turn of the 21st Century, Scientology had largely imploded under its own weight, leaving it with less than 10,000 members around the globe.
