gotbeer
Wed, Feb-11-04, 05:57
Widow Won't Dine With Mayor
By Glenn Thrush, Newsday STAFF WRITER, February 11, 2004
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-nyatk113665092feb11,0,5612971.story?coll=ny-health-headlines
It turns out that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gut instinct about the late Dr. Robert Atkins may have been right after all.
Bloomberg's description in January of Atkins as "fat," which infuriated Atkins' widow, was partly vindicated by the city medical examiner's report.
News of the report came as Bloomberg revealed that Veronica Atkins backed out of a steak dinner the mayor arranged to atone for his comments, made Jan. 20 during a photo-op at a Brooklyn firehouse that was recorded by television cameras.
"I did have something arranged, and she had to cancel for family reasons," Bloomberg told reporters at a news conference yesterday in lower Manhattan. "I don't know what people want to do after that. I think that was an event we should move on from here."
An Atkins spokeswoman didn't respond to questions about the cancellation.
Of the autopsy report being given to an anti-Atkins physicians' group, Bloomberg said, "Apparently, the document was released because somebody, inappropriately, with false information, applied to get it released ... There's absolutely no circumstances that private medical documents should be put out."
Veronica Atkins has disputed both Bloomberg's remarks and the report's findings about her late husband.
Bloomberg's description of the diet guru's girth came from seeing him at a fund-raiser at the Atkins' house in the Hamptons two years ago.
"The guy was fat," Bloomberg said while eating with firefighters last month. "Big guy, but heavy."
One explanation advanced yesterday for Atkins' weight was that it came from fluid retention while Atkins was hospitalized after he fell on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk and went into a coma. That was questioned by former city medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden, who said such patients, even those given too much intravenous fluid while unconscious, seldom gain more than 5 or 10 pounds.
"You simply can't gain 60 pounds in that way," said Baden, now forensics director for the New York State Police. "If somebody gained that much weight from an I.V., it would be gross, gross malpractice. I've never seen it happen."
By Glenn Thrush, Newsday STAFF WRITER, February 11, 2004
http://www.newsday.com/news/health/ny-nyatk113665092feb11,0,5612971.story?coll=ny-health-headlines
It turns out that Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gut instinct about the late Dr. Robert Atkins may have been right after all.
Bloomberg's description in January of Atkins as "fat," which infuriated Atkins' widow, was partly vindicated by the city medical examiner's report.
News of the report came as Bloomberg revealed that Veronica Atkins backed out of a steak dinner the mayor arranged to atone for his comments, made Jan. 20 during a photo-op at a Brooklyn firehouse that was recorded by television cameras.
"I did have something arranged, and she had to cancel for family reasons," Bloomberg told reporters at a news conference yesterday in lower Manhattan. "I don't know what people want to do after that. I think that was an event we should move on from here."
An Atkins spokeswoman didn't respond to questions about the cancellation.
Of the autopsy report being given to an anti-Atkins physicians' group, Bloomberg said, "Apparently, the document was released because somebody, inappropriately, with false information, applied to get it released ... There's absolutely no circumstances that private medical documents should be put out."
Veronica Atkins has disputed both Bloomberg's remarks and the report's findings about her late husband.
Bloomberg's description of the diet guru's girth came from seeing him at a fund-raiser at the Atkins' house in the Hamptons two years ago.
"The guy was fat," Bloomberg said while eating with firefighters last month. "Big guy, but heavy."
One explanation advanced yesterday for Atkins' weight was that it came from fluid retention while Atkins was hospitalized after he fell on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk and went into a coma. That was questioned by former city medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden, who said such patients, even those given too much intravenous fluid while unconscious, seldom gain more than 5 or 10 pounds.
"You simply can't gain 60 pounds in that way," said Baden, now forensics director for the New York State Police. "If somebody gained that much weight from an I.V., it would be gross, gross malpractice. I've never seen it happen."