Liver Doctor vs Liv.52 maker Himalaya: Science, beliefs and legality
How does Dr Cyriac Abby Philips offend alternative medicine practitioners and companies so often? What's Himalaya saying?
A Bengaluru civil court has passed an ex-parte interim injunction order to X (formerly Twitter), suspending the account of hepatologist and clinician-scientist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips. Under the highly popular X handle @theliverdr, Dr Philips has been posting tweets highly critical of Ayurvedic products and all forms of alternative medicine such as Homeopathy and Siddha.
The order was passed in a suit filed by Himalaya Wellness Corporation that alleged that he made defamatory allegations against the company's products. Liv.52, Himalaya's flagship product, is among the subjects of the doctor's strongly critical posts.
What's the doctor's background?
Dr Philips is a liver surgeon and hepatologist practising at Rajagiri Hospital near Kochi. He holds an MD in Internal Medicine and a DM in Hepatology & Transplant Medicine. He is the son of Padma Shri awardee Dr Philip Augustine, a gastroenterologist and founder of the Lakeshore Hospital and Research Centre in Kerala.
Why is he controversial?
The Liver Doctor has been a vocal critic of alternative medicines like Ayurveda and Homeopathy on Twitter and YouTube. He has also been critical of certain products of Himalaya Wellness Company. He has millions of followers on X who interact with him regularly as he shares details of his patients who experience complications after using alternative medicines.
His contention is that Ayurvedic products contain significant amounts of heavy metals that can cause immense harm to the human body. Anything that does not go through a rigorous scientific testing process ought not to be presecribed, he repeatedly says. He has sharply criticised alternative medical practitioners, his own modern medical colleagues who support alternative medicine, and the Ayush Ministry.
He argues that alternative medicine is not bound by any regulation, and this gives its practitioners the opportunity to cause irriversible harm. No scientific paper paper should be trusted unless it is peer-reviewed, he says.
He has shared photographs of charred, heavily damaged livers with the claim that the patients had taken Ayurvedic products. Turmeric, ginger, cumin, etc ought to be consumed as food, and not as medicine, he argues.
Dr Philip is controversial also because he doesn't mince words. He is often accused of being brusque.
What's the Himalaya case about?
Himalaya, whose Liv.52 has come under repeated attacks on the Liver Doctor Twitter handle, complained that Dr Philips' remarks were defamatory against its brand and products. The posts were "false and not justified", it added. Further, the company claimed it had lost business due to his posts.
The Bengaluru civil court's judgment read: “There is a need to issue an ad-interim ex-parte injunction directing the party who is posting such materials to remove them at the earliest so as to minimise the damage caused to the person who is affected by such postings in any manner.”
The court set January 5, 2024 as the date for the next hearing.
What is Himalaya saying?
A Himalaya Wellness Company spokesperson told The Federal that the company cannot comment on the case as the matter it is sub judice. The spokesperson did say that the company is a reputed one that has been operating for nearly 90 years.
How has the doctor responded?
Dr Philips’s page on Twitter now reads, “The Liver Doctor has been withheld globally in response to a legal demand.”
In an interview with IndiaToday.in, Dr Philips called the complainants “cowards”. He said they should rebut his “scientific claims” instead of going to court. He further said the company claimed that he was posting “derogatory remarks” on behalf of “modern pharma companies”.
"I have conducted a scientific study on people who have developed liver injury because of Liv.52 and that paper is under peer review. I have all the data and analysis that prove every claim I have made against the company and its products. They are doing it out of vendetta against me because they can't give a proper, straightforward answer to any of the posts that I have made," he told IndiaToday. "Himalaya is showing their cowardice. They are acting like cowards in this situation instead of providing scientific rebuttals to my posts or my claims against their products."
What has he said about Liv.52?
Dr Philips says every post of his on Liv.52, and the company’s other products, is supported by scientific evidence. He analysed the products to prove that they were adulterated, contaminated, and had substandard contents, he has said.
Reportedly, he and his team have conducted a study on people who developed liver complications after consuming Liv.52, and the research paper is currently under peer review.
He claims Himalaya's court case is out of vendetta because the latter could not give a proper scientific response to his criticism.
How has social media reacted?
There has been a strong outpouring of indignation from the Liver Doctor's myriad followers on social media. One user posted, “What wrong did he do? He only called out medical misinformation and quackery.”
Another said, “Whatever the liver doc tells here, one mostly hears it in a doctor’s chamber and it’s almost always too late then. The man is doing a social service here, he should be celebrated. Not banished.”
Another doctor said, “You bite the hand that is trying to save you and kiss the lips that poison your family.”
Has he faced legal tussles earlier?
Often. Dr Philips has also faced extensive trolling from right-wing groups for supposedly being 'anti-Hindu'. Among the complainants against him are the Ayurveda Medical Association of India, Ayurvedic medicine manufacturers, various Kerala state government departments, and supplements maker Herbalife.
Pankajakasthuri Herbals Pvt Ltd once filed a police report against him, accusing him of criminal defamation. He was let off after a police questioning.
