Dr Atkins' death was extremely unexpected. On 8 April 2003, he fell on an icy street, lost his conscience and never recovered until his death, 9 days later. On 17 April 2003 medical support was withdrawn and Robert C. Atkins passed away. Soon after his death, nonbelievers and people who denied and blamed Atkins diet, showed very little compassion or sympathy. Rumors about dr. Atkins' enormous weight on very moment of death (258 pounds) and about a potential heart disease stirred medical community, Atkins supporters and media, too. Veronika Atkins, widow, was very upset and spoke out about real circumstances of her husband's death. She also felt extremely sad as unkind rumors prevented her from grieving for her husband. Actually, there were two issues regarding dr Atkins' death:

* His unusual weight: 258 pounds. This weight was considered obese by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's body-mass index calculator. Unusual because 6-foot tall doctor had always been a very active person and dieting himself for many years. * Dr. Atkins was suffering from a form of heart disease, of heart's muscle, in fact. This seemed odd, too, since he had always insisted that his diet made heart and blood vessels stronger and lowered cholesterol level. In January 2003, author of Atkins diet plan had a heart stroke arrest, which confused people even more.

This was puzzling information and everybody waited for truth to be unveiled. But dr. Atkins' widow and a good friend of deceased (Dr Keith Berkowitz) untangled situation and presented their version:

1. Dr Atkins was a rather healthy 72-year-old person, with a moderate weight (less than 190-200 pounds). His coma condition and being artificially fed led to an abnormal swelling during those nine days when his life was supported by medical equipment. People who saw him admitted that he was unusually swollen. The liquids given by medical assistance could have been cause of his growing, Dr Keith Berkowitz admitted. He also deplored that after many decades of criticism, dr Atkins was finally beginning to receive recognition he had always deserved, which rumours swept away. 2. Three years before his heart attack, dr Atkins (69) announced that he had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which may have been responsible for heart arrest three years later. Also, on his regular heart control, he found that his coronary arteries showed insignificant signs of coronary disease. Given his age, dr Atkins was a healthy person, able to control his cardiomyopathy, said Veronika Atkins.

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