Report: Atkins Gained 60 Pounds Before Death
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A city medical examiner’s report filed after the death of diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins last April showed that the 6-foot-tall doctor had ballooned to 258 pounds.
A physicians group that is highly critical of the diet released details of the report, claiming the Atkins diet led to weight and heart troubles for its 72-year-old creator.
Atkins’ allies immediately disputed that. The Atkins Physicians Council said the doctor, whose diet favors protein and shuns carbohydrates, gained more than 60 pounds through fluid retention in the eight days he spent in a coma before dying. He had slipped on an icy street and hit his head.
Atkins weighed 195 pounds when he was admitted, the group’s chairman said.
The medical examiner’s report also noted that Atkins had a history of heart trouble.
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