If the diet was carefully observed, diabetics could expect to live for a couple of years before eventually succumbing to starvation, organ damage, or an infectious disease in their malnourished state.

[3] In spring 1919, Elizabeth Hughes was brought to Dr. Frederick Madison Allen at his special clinic, the Physiatric Institute in Morristown, New Jersey.

Allen put her on a strict diet and continued to monitor her condition over the next three years while she lived at home with a private nurse.

[3] From summer 1921 to spring 1922, a team at the University of Toronto succeeded in isolating the hormone insulin, which type 1 diabetics are unable to produce on their own.

Hughes's mother contacted Canadian doctor Frederick Banting, who agreed to take her as a private patient.

[7] The Hughes Gossett Awards, presented by the Supreme Court Historical Society, are named in her honor.