There is a lot of debate
here,
here and, for good measure,
here in the forums over a study that Dr Fuhrman did on weight loss which originally had Dr Campbell's name on it. But Dr Campbell withdrew his name because of flaws in the research, while Dr Fuhrman did not and has continued to mislead others about the real result of the study, as well as profit off of it.
I have very much appreciated the learning I have received from Dr Fuhrman, and benefited from some of his unique advice, and so it saddens me to see his pedestal crumble.
On the other hand, I have also - and originally! - very much benefited from the advice and recommendations of Dr. McDougall, Dr. Campbell and Dr. Esselstyn.
Before I came down with psoriatic arthritis I worked (among other things) as a group fitness instructor and a yoga instructor. As Yoga gained mainstream popularity during the last couple of decades, many "yoga superstars" came to fame, and each and every one of them "fell" at some point. Bikram, most notably, but many others, were accused of profiting too much from an ancient and non-proprietary science. Rodney Yee was unfaithful to his wife. Gary Kraftsow was unfaithful to his wife. John Friend had many adulterous relationships, scammed his employees out of retirement money, and allegedly sold marijuana and was part of a Wiccan sex cult. I kid you not.
There are many more examples. In a nutshell, they taught a set of spiritual principles, and portrayed themselves as living up to those principles, when in reality they were not.
I had very much benefited - and still do - from the teachings of each of those fallen giants as well.
One of the greatest lessons they gave me is to try to sort out the message from the messenger, and glean the pearls of wisdom while leaving the debris of human frailty - greed, ego, hubris, megalomania, etc. - that seems to be a great temptation for those who become healers of reknown of any sort.
I am very sad to see Dr. Fuhrman succumb to these weaknesses, when so much power and responsibility lie in his hands - and I am very impressed by Dr Campbell's strength of character.
But I must get back to the simple, yet complicated, task of separating character from information, and using my own experience and trial and error to see which dietary advice works for me.
I recently discovered that I need more starch to stay full than Dr Fuhrman recommends.
I previously discovered that I need more dietary fats than Dr McDougall recommends, or I do not create adequate hormones (I have not talked much about this here.)
But most importantly, I am far healthier than I ever was, and I owe them all - for good or evil - a debt of gratitude. And I still hold out hope that Dr F will step up and do the right thing, even if that is unlikely.