Calliphon and Democedes of Croton are not historically attested as a collaborative pair. The figure of Democedes of Croton was a renowned physician of the late 6th century BCE. According to Herodotus, he served at the courts of Polycrates of Samos and Darius I of Persia, where he famously treated the king's dislocated ankle and Queen Atossa's breast abscess. His father is identified as Calliphon, who is noted as a worshipper of Asclepius but not as a practicing doctor.

No written works are attributed to Calliphon and Democedes as a duo. Democedes himself is not credited with any surviving medical texts and is known only through historical accounts.

Their significance lies within the early anecdotal history of Greek medicine. Democedes represents the itinerant, court-employed physician of the Archaic period. His story in Herodotus underscores the high esteem for Greek medical skill across different cultures. There is no evidence for a joint medical tradition founded by the two.