February 12, 2004

ATKINS LIVES: For someone who

ATKINS LIVES: For someone who died nearly a year ago, Dr. Robert Atkins sure can't seem to stay out of the news. His diet is more popular than ever, with even the fast food establishment buying in; there was that whole kerfuffle between Mayor Bloomberg and Mrs. Atkins; and now it's in the news that Atkins weighed as much as 260 pounds at the time of his death.
Then again, that last part of the story is looking a bit sketchy: it came from confidential medical records that were leaked to the Wall Street Journal by a group of militant vegetarian physicans called PCAM; why such a leak isn't being investigated, Plame/Novak style, remains a mystery. Not to mention that Atkins' large weight was apparently due to pounds he gained from an IV while in a coma prior to his death. And that the doctor's death came from a fall on a sidewalk, and had nothing whatsoever to do with his weight.
So this story is not only tasteless and possibly improperly obtained, but it's also both irrelevant and incorrect. Almost as questionable as that NYT sex-slaves story. Which is, somewhat unbelievably, being made into a movie by the director of "Independence Day."

Posted by Stephen Silver at February 12, 2004 12:20 AM
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