| Autumn
2004 • Volume XIII, Number 4
Florida Businessman Sues Atkins Estate: Seeks Consumer Warning Labels
Florida businessman Jody Gorran filed suit in May 2004 against
Atkins Nutritionals, Inc., and the Estate of Dr. Robert C. Atkins,
claiming that the late diet author’s controversial high-fat,
low-carbohydrate regimen caused severe heart disease, necessitating
angioplasty. He is seeking a court injunction banning Atkins Nutritionals
from marketing its products without a warning of potential health
risks and asks for compensatory damages. The first hearing was scheduled
for October 26.
Mr. Gorran filed his complaint in Palm Beach County, Florida, charging
that Atkins and Atkins Nutritionals—the corporate empire based
on the Atkins diet and related food products—misrepresented
the diet’s dangers. Before Gorran went on the Atkins diet,
his cholesterol level was a healthy 146 and a heart scan—performed
incidentally as part of a medical examination—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 he 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 lawsuit is not about money, said Gorran. He is seeking less
than $15,000 for personal injury, plus damages under Florida’s
Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act in the amount of $40.45,
and intends to donate any money received to charity. “I hope
this lawsuit exposes the Atkins diet for what it is: a threat to
American public health,” Gorran said. “More than 20
million people are following some version of this diet. It is my
belief and hope that by coming forward, I can encourage others whose
health has been damaged by Atkins to come forward as well.”
About 30 percent of individuals on an Atkins diet experienced increases
in LDL (“bad”) cholesterol of at least 10 percent in
a study published May 18, 2004, in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Two study participants dropped out because of elevated cholesterol
levels and a third developed chest pain and was subsequently diagnosed
with coronary heart disease. The investigators reported, “Perhaps
the biggest concern about the low-carbohydrate diet is that the
increase in fat intake will have detrimental effects on serum lipid
[i.e., cholesterol] levels.”
Their experience parallels Gorran’s. “I feel victimized
by Atkins. I feel angry and betrayed because even though this diet
has been around for years, the Atkins people have not done the long-term
studies to prove it is safe,” he said. “I am living
proof that it is not.”
Through an on-line registry, www.AtkinsDiet
Alert.org, PCRM has received more than 560 complaints of illnesses
and fatalities allegedly related to Atkins-type diets, including
more than two dozen reports of potentially life-threatening cardiac
arrhythmias and the reported death of a 16-year-old girl in Missouri
who was following a low-carbohydrate diet.
Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets have been criticized by major
health organizations including the American Heart Association, the
American Dietetic Association, and the American Kidney Fund.
“Low-carbohydrate diets push dieters to avoid healthy foods,
like rice, beans, and pasta, while ignoring the risks of high-cholesterol,
high-fat meat and cheese,” said PCRM President Neal Barnard,
M.D. “The idea that cholesterol and saturated fat don’t
matter is a dangerous myth.” PCRM is encouraging dieters who
may have had health problems while on a low-carbohydrate diet to
register on www.AtkinsDietAlert.org.
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