The most common misconception about Atkins, or any carbohydrate-deprivation diet regime like South Beach or The Zone, is that it's a high-fat content diet in addition to carbohydrates.
People think, and I'm not singling you out, John70T, that Atkins means high-fat because that's what they've heard, but word-of-mouth doesn't communicate the fact that you must have a very low, under 50g/day, carbohydrate intake, for the diet to work. If you "cheat" and eat ice cream on a low-calorie, carbohydrate-based, "fat-free" diet, all it will do is set your progress back. If you "cheat" on Atkins, guess what, you are on THE BODY DESTROYER DIET, because the high fat content coupled with carbs generating an insulin response will pack on the pounds faster than you can say "I'll have fries with that!"
Atkins says in the book that you should have a baseline cholesterol test performed and a physician checkup before going on the diet. I'd go that one further and say that you should have a couple different cholesterol tests performed: you will be AMAZED at the variation between tests and labs. Average the results. Atkins claims that your cholesterol level will go DOWN if you practice the diet correctly. It's just that it takes MORE DISCIPLINE than lo-cal diets due to the need to maintain a state of Beneficial Dietary Ketosis (BDK) while on the diet.
Naturally there will be LITIGANTS who claim that Atkins FOULED them up and seek a recovery. Consider the case of the man below: do you think he is an agent provocateur for the now-ailing bread industry, that has thrived for years on the "Food Pyramid" recommedation of FIVE SERVINGS of GRAIN a DAY?
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/national/27atkins.html?ei=5062&en=d399bbe237d93537&ex=1086235200&partner=GOOGLE&pagewanted=print&position=