Physicians Committee for "Responsible" Medicine
This group's idea of acting "responsibly" involves stripping a dead guy -- Dr. Atkins -- of his privacy, and marching lies about him around the media to serve their (vegetarian diet-promoting) cause. Vile. Syndicated columnist Neil Cavuto very responsibly comes to Atkins' defense:
The group says Atkins was fat, 258 pounds, proof, one of its members later told me, that Atkins either didn't practice what he preached, or did, and got fat anyway.What the group failed to point out, and USA Today confirmed, is that Atkins went into the hospital weighing 195 pounds. He quickly fell into a coma and lingered for nine days in that vegetative state, being fed liquids that doctors tell me can indeed add dramatic weight in a short period of time.
But what Atkins ultimately weighed getting into, and sadly out of, that hospital doesn't matter. Common decency does. And this Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine wouldn't know the first thing about it.
It's one thing to hate a diet. It's quite another to use a dead man to make your point about that diet.
That dead man can't defend himself. So allow me.
I knew Atkins. I covered Atkins. The times I saw him he didn't look obese to me. And why would he? He was the poster child for the most talked about diet revolution in human history! You don't stay on message if you're not staying in shape. And the Atkins I saw was staying in shape.
He freely told me he battled weight in life.
It's a pity he can't battle classless fools in death.
Once again, here's a little responsibility in photography.
I like the goals of the physicians committee. Anybody trying to bring reason to medicine should be applauded. I think the author is wrong dead wrong. He appeals for decency. drop dead.
I don't know if Atkins' diet worked or not.
But he made a fortune selling his diet, millions of people now apparently follow it. His life, lifestyle and weight, therefore become germane. Millions of people's lives and health can be touched by what the old boy said. So yes, it's a relevant issue in my view. When he steps into the public arena and posits issues that concern people's health and possibly their life and death, these isues become germane. Tacky. No prudent. The stated goals of this committee are no different than the goals of John Stossel or James Randi. If he's a charlatan let's expose it instead of wallowing in our somnolent slumber.
Quesy doing it yourself? Okay for a negotiable fee I'll do it. I'll buy a crane, motor out to the graveyard, dig him up with a backhoe, then hoist him like a trophy fish at oceanside on a scale and let the numbers tell the story. Is his weight from fluids in the hospital? That's one possible answer, but not the only one. That's a theory. Let's investigate. By the way, I'll do the hoisting for a hundred bucks and a happy meal from McDonalds.
Chris
chris volkay at February 17, 2004 7:21 AM