Just as general interest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Dieter Sues Atkins Estate and Company
May 27, 2004
By MARIAN BURROS
A 53-year-old man sued the estate of Dr. Robert C. Atkins
and the company that promotes his diet yesterday. The suit
says following the Atkins diet for two years raised the
man's cholesterol so much that his arteries became clogged
and required a medical procedure to open them.
The suit is apparently the first to involve the diet, the
most prominent and controversial low-carbohydrate regimen
and the one most associated with assertions that followers
could eat all the red meat and saturated fat they wanted
and still lose weight.
The plaintiff, Jody Gorran, who is being assisted by the
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an advocacy
group that supports a vegan diet, is seeking $28,000 in
damages. Mr. Gorran said he was using the suit to tell
other people about the dangers of the diet and to have its
promoters include warnings in books, other products and Web
sites.
Mr. Gorran, of Delray Beach, Fla., said that in 2001, when
his weight crept up to 148 from 140 he turned to the diet,
specifically, the 1999 edition of "Dr. Atkins' New Diet
Revolution." After two months he said, his cholesterol shot
from 146, well within the normal range, to 230, considered
in the hazardous range.
In October 2003, after three episodes of chest pain,
doctors found that Mr. Gorran had a 99 percent blockage in
a major artery and performed angioplasty and inserted a
stent to keep it open. Before starting the diet, he said,
tests showed that his arteries were clear.
In responding to a request for comment, a representative
for Atkins Nutritionals and the estate of Dr. Atkins said
they stood by "the science that has repeatedly reaffirmed
the safety and health benefits of Atkins."
Speaking of the Physicians Committee for Responsible
Nutrition, the statement says that the organization, "a
well-known vegan and animal rights group, has a long
history of initiating these kinds of scare tactics that are
designed to convince the American public to stop eating
animal protein of any sort."
Dr. Frank M. Sacks, a professor of cardiovascular disease
prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health who is a
critic of the diet and who looked at Mr. Gorran's medical
records at the request of The New York Times, said he was
not surprised by the increase in cholesterol.
"It could happen in two weeks," Dr. Sacks said. "There are
definitely people that happens to, though it is not a
majority."
The American Heart Association said it would not comment on
the suit, but issued a statement saying, "Eating large
amounts of high-fat foods for a sustained period raises the
risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and
several types of cancer."
Mr. Gorran said in his suit that after his cholesterol had
increased he was encouraged to continue the plan by a
passage in the book that acknowledged that cholesterol
would increase for about one in three dieters. The book
says those people should "eat only the lean proteins -
turkey roll, skinless chicken breast, fish, farmer cheese,
lean cuts of meat and so on - but do not increase your
carbohydrate intake more than 5 grams. However, if you are
not happy on the low-fat version of the diet or get hungry,
or don't feel well on it, then don't bother with it; go
back to the regular Atkins diet that you enjoyed more."
"I contend there ought to be a warning on this diet," Mr.
Gorran said in a telephone interview from Florida, where he
filed the suit. "I'm seeking an injunction to prevent them
from selling their products, books, or having their Web
site without a warning, because they know one-third of the
people on the diet will have what Atkins referred to as
'less favorable cholesterol.' "
Within two months after going off the Atkins diet, where
his favorite foods were cheese every day and cheesecake
three times a week, his cholesterol dropped to 146.
Mr. Gorran, a wealthy owner of a manufacturer of solar
panels for swimming pools, said he enlisted the physicians'
organization "because they are familiar with publicity.''
"The whole thing is based on getting the word out,'' he
said. "Even if the suit never gets anywhere, we'll be out
there and people will start to think."
A law professor who read the complaint said he did not
think that it would get anywhere.
"The lawsuit has two serious shortcomings from the legal
point of view," said the professor, Benjamin Zipursky, who
teaches torts and product liability law, said. "Tort law
generally does not permit a cause of action or lawsuit
based on bad theories put out in a book, and most courts
would recognize a valid First Amendment defense here. I
would be surprised if the case were not eventually
dismissed before getting to a jury."
Professor Zipursky said that the suit was "chock-full of
information about criticism of the Atkins diet.''
"So it really reads as if it were done by someone who is
doing it for reasons of publicity rather than private
gain,'' he added. "Not only is each claim for relief less
than $15,000, it does not ask for punitive damages, which I
think is appropriate and a sign of their seriousness."
The suit is not the first against a diet book. In 1989, a
suit against the publisher of "The Last Chance Diet," by
Robert Linn, a doctor of osteopathy, said someone died
following the liquid protein diet in the book. A judge
threw out the suit.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/na...8180e3cdfecc4f
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I can actually eat too, like MichelleRae stated, because I don't feel sick looking at the meal ahead of me.