| Ex-Atkins Dieter Files Suit | |
May 29, 2004
A 53-year-old Florida man named Jody Gorran has sued Atkins Nutritionals and the estate of Atkins founder Dr. Robert Atkins. The suit filed Wednesday in Palm Beach County claims following the Atkins Diet threatened Gorran's health.
Gorran is seeking damages in the amount of $15,000. He says the diet caused his cholesterol to rise to an unhealthy number; resulting health problems led to angioplasty and other medical treatment.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an advocacy group that assisted Gorran in filing the suit, stated the following in a news release:
"Before Gorran went on the Atkins diet, his cholesterol level was a healthy 146 and a heart scan showed he was free of coronary artery disease. After he went on the diet, Gorran's cholesterol jumped to 230. He continued on the diet because of the assurances in the Atkins diet books and Web site."But in October 2003, Gorran developed severe chest pain. A cardiac evaluation revealed a 99 percent blockage in one of his coronary arteries, necessitating angioplasty to open the blocked artery and a drug-coated stent to keep it open. His doctors advised him to stop the diet."
The PCRM and Gorran suggest that Atkins products should carry a warning label advising consumers of health risks.
"I hope this lawsuit exposes the Atkins diet for what it is: a threat to the American public health," the news release quotes Gorran as saying.
The PCRM says Gorran plans to donate any funds awarded in the suit to charity.
The Atkins camp has issued a statement in response to the suit's claims on its Web site, regarding the litigation as "frivolous":
"As always, Atkins stands by the science that has repeatedly reaffirmed the safety and health benefits [of Atkins]..."As recently as last week, two new studies published in the Annals of Internal Medicine confirmed the safety and benefits of Atkins as well as demonstrated, even when compared to low-fat diets, that Atkins provides improvements in major cardiovascular risk factors."
One of the studies mentioned in the statement was done at Duke University. Researchers there found that people who followed a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet lost more weight than low-fat/low-cal dieters; they also reported lowered triglyceride levels and higher HDL (good cholesterol) in the study participants.
The PCRM says it has received more than 500 health complaints about the Atkins Diet and urges anyone who has experienced Atkins-related health issues to register at their Atkins Diet Alert Web Site.
