My goodness!

Great article Lester.

"Hazzard's entire con was built on exploiting the weaknesses of sick people (or rich hypochondriacs) who felt traditional medicine had failed them. Modern medicine was still in its infancy, but her quack treatments offered emphatic promises and a health regimen that seemed comprehensible to the average person.

"In an era when scientific literacy was low among the general public..."

The more things change...

I scanned this article but did not see it mentioned that this was covered recently by “My Favorite Murder.”

Wait.. what? "And even now, fasting remains a popular fad;"
I would think notable longevity of a practice contradicts the definition of a "fad".

Hell, look up the concept of "calorie restriction" on the nih.gov site if you want to explore a fascinating rabbit hole. I mean, there's a bunch of famished rabbits down there, so bring protection, but it's very interesting despite all the hungry bunnies.

Anyway, wild story. Thanks for writing this.

"And even now, fasting remains a popular fad". Anorexia nervosa, for one that even I had once fell prey to in my late teens.

Wow--this is taking anorexia nervosa to creepier levels! Failure to eat and stay healthy is hazardous (Hazzardous?) in more ways than one. Sad about the unfortunate Mrs. Haglund.
Thank you for sharing, Lester.

@5: Damn it! Correction: "Anorexia nervosa, for one that even I had fallen prey to in my late teens."

Linda looks like she could have passed for Norman Bates' mother.