My cousin was sucked into a fatal alternative therapy 'wormhole', says author

Hannah McElhinney remembers her cousin Lauren as a stylish, idolized figure from childhood. But she also recalls Lauren's persistent tiredness, which later led to diagnoses of chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia in her teens.

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She was what many people look up to in an older family member.

As Lauren aged, she sought answers beyond traditional medicine, becoming convinced around 2018 that she had "chronic Lyme disease." This condition is not officially recognized in Australia, where health authorities state there is no evidence of the bacteria causing Lyme disease in local ticks. Lauren explored various hard-to-define, invisible conditions before settling on this diagnosis.

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It's an interesting thing to remember, but a lot of my memories of seeing Lauren around school holidays or Christmas involved needing to wait for her to wake up.

Her pursuit of alternative treatments led her to ingest veterinary Ivermectin, drink chlorine dioxide (a bleach), and undergo bee sting therapy. She also tried the "Gerson therapy," previously promoted by a wellness scammer for cancer treatment. McElhinney only learned the full extent of these dangerous practices after Lauren's death.

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Around 2018 is when she found that diagnosis.

Lauren traveled to Malaysia in October 2022 for treatment and died there. McElhinney is now sharing her cousin's story to caution others about the risks associated with unproven and potentially harmful alternative therapies.

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The first thing was veterinary Ivermectin.