A lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts alleges that Hasselbeck plagiarized content from a book on celiac disease written by a self-published author.
Author Susan Hassett filed the lawsuit Monday, indicating that she sent Hasselbeck a copy of her book, Living With Celiac Disease, after the "The View" celebrity disclosed she had Celiac. Hasselbeck's book, The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide, was recently posted on several best-seller lists.
To make matters worse, The Celiac Disease Foundation said Hasselbeck's Book is "Inaccurate" and "Dangerous." Elaine Monarch, the Executive Director of the Celiac Disease Foundation (who also happens to be the doctor that initially diagnosed me with Celiac back in 1989!), wrote the following open letter to the Celiac community regarding Hasselbeck's book:
"I am writing to call your attention to the current publicity surrounding the new book, The G-free Diet, A Gluten-Free Survival Guide, by Elisabeth Hasselbeck, co-host of The View. While it is important to call attention to celiac disease, the information must be accurate - the inaccuracies in this book are potentially dangerous and detrimental to celiacs and to those yet to be diagnosed if people self diagnose and start eating GF. Our mission is to assist in getting people accurately diagnosed and the message in this book could defeat this mission. It appears that this book is being marketed as a fitness diet - eat g-free and feel so much better. Celiac is incorrectly referred to as an allergy, not an autoimmune disease.
The GF diet is the medically mediated prescription that controls the condition for a diagnosed celiac. Several items in the book are misleading and inaccurate and place further limitations on the GF diet. The gluten-free lifestyle is a lifelong commitment for the diagnosed celiac, not an option, not a fad diet - adhering to the GF lifestyle requires patience and persistence. This lifestyle can not be trivialized."
If you have any thoughts, or would like to read more about this topic, you can join in on the discussions here http://bit.ly/jGNNR.
Chad Hines
P.S. Have you joined Gluten-Free Faces yet? It's the fastest growing social network on the internet dedicated to everything gluten-free! The site is free to join and gives you the ability to share recipes, stories, information, search gluten-free blogs, upload photos and videos, ask questions, join discussion groups, get the latest gluten-free news, connect with Celiacs in your area and even chat live with other gluten-free individuals from around the globe. Think of it as a gluten-free Facebook, that is customized to fit your gluten-free needs. Here is the link for you to sign up...
www.GlutenFreeFaces.com
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