Atkins Smear Campaign beginning to unravel
Well, despite ridiculously biased commentators like Fumento trying to take advantage of the illegally obtained coroner’s report of the late Dr. Robert Atkins (Fumento calls Atkins fat and completely leaves out the very plausible explanation of fluid retention and the fact that hospital records actually show his weight upon admittance as 60 some lbs less), it seems that most news media are giving PCRM more scrutiny. They are rightly calling into question this somewhat serious lapse in the privacy rights of an individual in order to promote an organizations agenda. This recent article in the Miami Herald digs a bit deaper and reports on the doctor who apparently got the report in the first place and then handed it off to PCRM. Dr. Richard Fleming is actually a member of the PCRM, yet the two are now squabbling in a he said/she said battle of whether Fleming was somehow pressured by PCRM to give them the report, or whether he rather contacted them and gave it to them without asking. What is the truth? Does it matter? To me, not much. In either case, PCRM is still liable. Whether they pressured Fleming or got it gratis, they were the ones that published it, not Fleming. PCRM, in other words, is still guilty of gross violations of privacy. Fleming may or may not share blame, but PCRM, somehow believes they can take some of the heat off themselves by making Fleming a scapegoat.
Unfortunately much of the damage is done, and I think that’s all PCRM cares about. Millions of people probably saw short clips on the evening news over the last few nights, or saw a headline saying “Atkins was fat, had heart disease” and without looking much further for the details, this permanently pushed doubt into their minds about the healthfulness of the diet. Of course we have all been so conditioned to believe that fat is bad over the last 30+ years, that it takes a great deal to rid oneself of that bias.
PCRM have long been known in some circles as being extremists with an agenda. With this flap, their reputation still cannot get much worse; it can only get more widely disseminated. My only hope is that they are hit hard by the Justice Department and perhaps Atkins’ Widow both financially and legally for what they have done.