Linda Laura Hazzard was born Lynda Laura Burfield on December 18, 1867, in Carver, Minnesota. She was the oldest of seven children in her family. Her parents were Susanna Neil, who was born Wakefield, and Montgomery Burfield. Details about her early life are limited, but Lynda grew up in a large family in the Midwest.

Hazzard did not have a formal medical degree. However, she managed to practice medicine in Washington state due to a loophole that allowed some alternative medicine practitioners to operate without a degree. She claimed to have studied under a doctor named Edward Hooker Dewey, who was well-known for supporting fasting as a treatment. Hazzard later developed her own fasting method, which she believed could heal various illnesses by removing toxins from the body.

She wrote several books on fasting, starting with "Fasting for the Cure of Disease" published in 1908. This was followed by "Diet in Disease" in 1917 and a revised edition of her first book in 1927 titled "Scientific Fasting: The Ancient and Modern Key to Health." Through her work, Hazzard claimed that her methods could cure diseases.

In the early 1900s, Hazzard opened a facility called Wilderness Heights in Olalla, Washington. This facility was sometimes referred to as a sanitarium where patients underwent fasting treatments, often consuming only small amounts of tomato or asparagus juice, and occasionally orange juice. While some patients reportedly supported her methods, others suffered negative outcomes.

In the early 1900s, Linda Hazzard established a sanitarium known as Wilderness Heights in Olalla, Washington, where she implemented her fasting treatments. Patients were subjected to extreme fasting regimens, consuming minimal amounts of liquids such as tomato and asparagus juices, leading to severe malnutrition and, in numerous cases, death. Local residents grimly referred to the facility as "Starvation Heights" due to the alarming number of fatalities.

One of the most notorious cases involved British sisters Claire and Dorothea (Dora) Williamson, who sought Hazzard's treatment in 1911. Under her care, Claire died of starvation, weighing less than 50 pounds at the time of her death. Dora was found in an emaciated state but survived after being removed from the sanitarium by concerned relatives. Investigations revealed that Hazzard had manipulated the Williamson sisters to gain control of their finances and valuables.

Hazzard was arrested on August 5, 1911, and charged with manslaughter for the death of Claire Williamson. Her trial began on January 15, 1912, and garnered significant media attention. On February 5, 1912, she was found guilty and subsequently sentenced to serve between 2 to 20 years of hard labor at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. After serving approximately two years, Hazzard was released on parole on December 26, 1915, and received a full pardon from Governor Ernest Lister in 1916, contingent upon her agreement to leave the United States. She and her husband relocated to New Zealand, where she continued practicing as a dietitian and osteopath until 1920.

In 1920, Hazzard returned to Olalla and opened a new sanitarium, operating it as a "school of health" since her medical license had been revoked. She continued to promote her fasting therapies until the facility was destroyed by fire in 1935. Ironically, in 1938, Hazzard succumbed to self-imposed starvation while attempting one of her own fasting treatments, leading to her death on June 24, 1938.