Atkins lawsuit

Responsible Is As Responsible Does

You may have heard the recent news about the Florida man – Jody Gorran – who is suing Atkins Nutritionals. He claims that by following the Atkins diet for more than two years, he developed “life-threatening health problems.”

To Mr. Gorran’s credit, he’s not suing for millions of dollars in damages. He’s asking that health-warning labels be placed on all Atkins books, products and web sites. He’s also asking for a total of $40.45 (the amount of money he spent on Atkins products).

According to the New York Times, Mr. Gorran ate “cheesecake three times a week” while on the Atkins diet. And according to the motion filed by Mr. Gorran’s attorneys, “Mr. Gorran had been eating large amounts of pastrami and cheesecake, because the Atkins diet allows unlimited pastrami and Atkins, Inc. sells a cheesecake that is ‘Atkins friendly.'”

Notice that this doesn’t state that he actually ate any Atkins brand, low-carb cheesecake – only that Atkins sells such a cheesecake. And if he only spent a total of $40.45 on Atkins products, that wouldn’t cover a couple of years worth of cheesecakes.

So was Mr. Gorran actually eating standard, commercial cheesecakes three times a week for nearly 30 months? If he was, then he was getting loads of sugars and carbohydrates, which would mean, of course, that he was not really following the Atkins plan. So should Atkins take the blame for his life-threatening health problems?

Maybe it’s time to bring Sara Lee in for questioning.

Mr. Gorran’s attorneys state that the “unfair, deceptive or unconscionable acts or practices” of Atkin’s Inc. are “immoral, unethical, oppressive, unscrupulous, or substantially injurious to consumers.” And if that seems a little over the top, consider the source: Mr. Gorran’s legal bills are being paid for by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), according to the Palm Beach Post. His attorney was also provided by PCRM.

Remember PCRM? This is the pro-vegan group that attacks Atkins at every opportunity. In fact, in addition to its primary web site, the PCRM maintains an entirely separate site completely devoted to one thing: discrediting the Atkins diet. And PCRM is also the upstanding organization that furnished the Wall Street Journal with a copy of Dr. Atkins’ death certificate earlier this year, claiming (falsely) that Dr. Atkins had been obese and had died of heart disease.

Mr. Gorran says his only goal with the lawsuit is to warn the public about the Atkins diet. Legal experts don’t believe that he’ll win in court, but PCRM has already accomplished its goal: To once again plant the idea in the public’s mind that the Atkin’s diet is dangerous.

I know what Judge Judy might say about all this: “See my forehead? Stupid it doesn’t say here!”

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute

Sources:
“Gorran v. Atkins” County Court for Palm Beach County, Florida, pcrm.org
“Dieter Sues Atkins Estate and Company” Marian Burros, The New York Times, 5/27/04, nytimes.com
“Goal of Suit Against Atkins: Warning Public” Linda Rawls, Palm Beach Post, 5/28/04, palmbeachpost.com