Dr Annika Dahlqvist - Sweden

Low Carb - Best Practice - 1998

Dahlqvist had her own weight problems. She adopted a ketogenic diet, and lost weight easily.

She began to tell her patients about her success, they followed her recommendation and eventually this got into the press.

In 2005 two dietitians reported her to the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare, charging her with medical malpractice.

January 2008 the answer came from the Swedish Experts Committee:

"… low carb diets can today be seen as compatible with scientific evidence, and is best practice for weight reduction, for patients who are overweight or with diabetes type 2.

… A number of studies have shown effect in the short term and no evidence of harm has emerged …"

Experts in Court

I spoke earlier about researchers who's career ended when they tried to produce work that opposed the key ideas in the new paradigm. Medical doctors seemed in the past to have more freedom.

When Dr Robert Atkins was promoting his "Atkins Diet Revolution" He was hounded in the press, but he was never disqualified as a medical practitioner.

Dr Richard Bernstein, couldn't get his papers published, but he did get several books out, and his licence to practice was not revoked.

Dr Annika Dahlqvist is the first of a whole line of medical professionals and dietitians who have been legally challenged. Some have simply accepted "discipline." Others are currently facing battles in court.

Today, to stand against the paradigm is a decision that can have serious consequences for the professionals involved. In 2017 Prof. Tim Noakes in South Africa was involved in a court case that's reaching into the third year. It's cost several million dollars, and it's was decided in favour of Prof. Noakes.

Contact: Write to John.S.Veitch
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