Detox dieter wins £810,000 pay-out
A woman who was left brain-damaged after she tried a detox diet has won £810,000 in damages.
Dawn Page, 52, claims she was told to drink more water and reduce her salt intake during The Amazing Hydration Diet.
The High Court was told she suffered uncontrollable vomiting after starting the diet but nutritionist Barbara Nash assured her it was part of the detoxification process.
In October 2001 when she was less than a week into the regime, she suffered an epileptic fit and was taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in Swindon.
Doctors were unable to prevent her suffering permanent brain damage and her memory, speech and concentration have been affected.
Her husband Geoff Page, 54, of Farringdon, Wiltshire, told London's Evening Standard: "Her life has been seriously affected, perhaps ruined, by this fad-type way of losing weight, which I can only say is a dangerous method of weight loss."
He said his wife had been keen to lose weight and had previously tried several other diets.
"Just days after she started the Hydration Diet, she began to feel unwell and started vomiting. Things went from bad to worse, and within another couple of days she collapsed with the fit."
Mrs Nash's insurance company agreed to pay out £810,000 although she denied any wrongdoing.
Plexus Law, which represented her, said: "On behalf of our client we wish to make it clear that all allegations of substandard practice made on behalf of Mrs Page in the litigation, have always been and continue to remain firmly denied."