Wormhole

A groundbreaking, deeply researched and big-scope non-fiction examination of alternative therapies, conspiracy theories and medical misogyny with a tragic personal story at its heart – the death of a young woman.

Lauren went down the alternative medicine wormhole. Two years after her tragic death, her cousin resolved to examine what happened.

In October 2022, Lauren – a young Australian woman in her mid-thirties – left for Malaysia to undergo an alternative medical treatment for Chronic Lyme Disease. She never returned.

Haunted by her cousin’s death, writer Hannah McElhinney retraces Lauren’s descent into the alternative medicine wormhole to investigate how she got there, and how easy it may be for others to do the same.

Amid society’s growing mistrust of the medical establishment, McElhinney argues it is those of us living in female bodies who have found that our pain and suffering is more frequently dismissed in clinics and ignored in research.

And if that’s the case, when our gut tells us there’s something wrong, would it be so crazy to get a second opinion? Or a third? Or as many opinions as it takes until someone says ‘I know exactly what’s wrong with you, and I may have a cure’?

Both a deeply personal account and a wide-ranging exploration of medical misogyny, wellness culture and misinformation, Wormhole is an urgent and empathetic addition to the conversation about the future of modern medicine and wellness culture.