Years after his death in 2003, the rumor that Dr. Robert Atkins "died of his own diet" persists. The falsehoods concerning his death are mainly propogated by the vegan group the Physicians Committee...
He died from falling down and hitting his head after slipping on ice while walking to work. He was in a coma for 9 days before he died on April 17th 2003. He was 72 years old.
received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical School in 1955 with a specialty in cardiology. As an internist and cardiologist he developed the Atkins Diet in the early 1970s