The Smithsonian Magazine looks back on a female quack doctor who did not only kill patients through starvation but also took advantage of their wealth.
In an October 28 article entitled "The Doctor Who Starved Her Patients to Death," the website recalled Dr. Linda Hazzard who, despite the lack of any professional training and education in medicine, received a Washington certification to work as a fasting specialist.
She, along with her husband Samuel, operated a "health institution" in Olalla, trying to help patients cure their illnesses through severe forms of fasting, including a very limited amount of food for days, enemas, and aggressive massages.
During the course of her "treatment," many had been reported to have died, but the most famous of all were the British sisters, Dorothea and Claire Williamson.
Coming from a rich family, the two sisters were traveling to British Columbia when they read about Dr. Hazzard and her method of treatment through a newspaper ad of her book. Although they were not deathly sick, they complained about minor ailments. Without leaving any other information to their family, and as strong believers of alternative medicine, they went to Dr. Hazzard.
However, their expectations of a possible health retreat in a farm turned into a tragedy when Claire died, which the doctor blamed on the drugs she might have received during childhood.
The first clue as to the sisters' whereabouts came to the family's servant Margaret Conway, who learned of Claire's demise upon reaching Vancouver. She also saw Dora (Dorothea's nickname) in Ollala, who had already dropped to a mere 50 pounds with protruding bones it hurt when she tried to sit. Sensing something was seriously wrong, she tried to get Dora out of the institution, but Dr. Hazzard seemed to be more powerful. It took an uncle of the sisters to succeed in the plan but only after he had paid a thousand dollars to the doctor and her husband.
This, however, sparked the investigation on the couple to seek justice for Claire's death, which revealed that there are other previous cases of similar deaths. However, what was even worse was the fact these victims were mostly rich and had bequeathed their money, will, and inheritance to the couple.
She was later convicted for manslaughter but was released two years after. She and her husband moved to New Zealand where she practiced as a doctor. The Auckland government eventually charged for practicing without registration and fined her.
A few years later, she moved back to Olalla and opened a school, which later caught fire and was never rebuilt.
Interestingly, she died in 1938 following her own fasting protocol.
