|
Linda Burfield Hazzard (1867 – 1938) was an American quack doctor noted for her promotion of fasting as a treatment; she was imprisoned by the state of Washington for a number of deaths resulting from this at a sanitarium she operated there in the early 20th century. She was born 1867 in Carver County, Minnesota, and died during a fast in 1938. ==Career== Despite her lack of a medical degree, she was licensed to practice medicine in Washington. A loophole in a licensing law grandfathered in some practitioners of alternative medicine who didn’t have medical degrees, including Hazzard. According to her book "The Science of Fasting", Burfield studied under Edward Hooker Dewey, M.D. one of the two pioneers of fasting (the other was Dr. Henry S. Tanner M.D. who famously fasted for 42 days in 1877). She created a "sanitarium", Wilderness Heights, in Olalla, Washington, where inpatients fasted for days, weeks or months, on a diet of small amounts of tomato and asparagus juice and occasionally, a small teaspoon of orange juice. While some patients survived and publicly sang her praises, more than 40 patients died under her care. Hazzard claimed that they all died of undisclosed or hitherto undiagnosed, serious organic illnesses such as cancer or cirrhosis of the liver. Her opponents claimed that they all died of starvation.〔Olsen, Gregg. ''Starvation Heights''. Warner Books, 1997.〕 Local residents referred to the place as "Starvation Heights". She assured people that her method was a panacea for all manner of ills, because she was able to rid the body of toxins that caused imbalances in the body.〔Holmes, Ronald M., and Stephen T. Holmes. Serial Murder. Third Edition ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, Inc, 2009〕 In 1912, she was convicted of manslaughter for the death of Claire Williamson, a wealthy British woman, who weighed less than 50 pounds at the time of her death. At the trial it was proved that Hazzard had forged Williamson's will and stolen most of her valuables. Williamson's sister, Dorothea, also took the treatment, and, it is alleged, only survived because a family friend showed up in time to remove her from the compound. It is suggested that one of them managed to smuggle a telegram to alert the family, however by the time of arrival Claire had already died. Dorothea was too weak to leave on her own, weighing less than 60 pounds. She later testified against Hazzard at trial. Hazzard was sentenced to 2 to 20 years in prison, which she served in the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla.〔 She was released on parole on December 26, 1915 after serving two years,〔"Woman Fast Doctor Released on Parole." ''The Oakland Tribune''. Oakland, California. 21 Dec 1915.〕 and the following year Governor Ernest Lister gave her a full pardon.〔"Convict 'Doctor' Wins a Pardon." ''The Eau Claire Leader''. Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 6 June 1916.〕 She and her husband, Samuel Christman Hazzard, moved to New Zealand, where she practiced as a dietitian and osteopath until 1920.〔 In 1917 a Whanganui newspaper reported that she held a practicing certificate from the Medical Board of the state of Washington.〔Personal, Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 17037, 16 July 1917, Page 4〕 Because she used the title Doctor she was charged in Auckland under the Medical Practitioners Act for practicing medicine while not registered to do so, found guilty and fined ₤5 plus costs〔Unregistered physician, New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16877, 15 June 1918, Page 8〕 (approximately NZ$600〔http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/monetary_policy/inflation_calculator/〕 plus costs or US$462.13〔http://themoneyconverter.com/NZD/USD.aspx〕 plus costs in 2014). In 1920, she returned to Olalla, Washington and opened a new sanitarium, known publicly as a "school of health" since her medical license had been revoked,〔 and continued to supervise fasts until it burned to the ground in 1935; it was never rebuilt. Linda Burfield Hazzard died in 1938 while attempting a fasting cure on herself.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Linda Hazzard」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|