All this was an incredible nightmare for Dr. Atkins. My paperback edition of the 1972 original Diet Revolution contains the entire text of the Statement of Robert C. Atkins MD to the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs April 12, 1973, before which he was summoned after being called a quack and a charlatan who might actually be killing people. After a very reasonable, measured rebuttal of many criticisms, Atkins concludes his statement:

"The responsibility of this committee evaluating the usefulness of this dietary regimen is made considerably easier by the fact that this diet is easily amenable to comparison with the more conventional diet since both can be used by the same person for the same purpose and the results compared. Would it not be a shame if this committee were to form a conclusion on the basis of testimony by non-observers of the diet, by speculation or ivory-tower deductions, when the actual answers are so amenable to controlled scientific investigation, which could be commenced immediately? I personally know what results such studies would yield; I have seen the results many thousands of times. But I know that an investigating committee would only be satisfied with independently-acquired data. I submit that these scientific facts should be assembled before arriving at even a tentative conclusion."

Alas, Dr. Atkins. Since when did scientific facts--or any facts for that matter--serve to guide congressional actions? The more things change, the more they stay the same.