Who Is Dr Cyriac Abby Philips aka TheLiverDoc, And Why Himalaya Wants His X Account Suspended?
Elon Musk-owned microblogging platform X on Thursday withheld the account of Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, who went by the username @theliverdr, following a court order.
The order was issued by a Bengaluru Civil Court in a suit filed by Himalaya Wellness Corporation, alleging Dr Philips of making defamatory allegations against the company products.
Who is?TheLiverDoc?
Dr Philips, a Kerala-based hepatologist, is a popular figure on social media and uses his reach to battle medical misinformation and create awareness about evidence-based modern medical practices.
Over the years, Dr Philips has also emerged as one of the leading voices against alternative medicine practices, which he says are based on pseudoscience and can be dangerous for health.
Dr Philips, a senior consultant hepatologist and physician-scientist at Rajagiri Hospital in Kochi, has also published several research papers on liver injuries caused by consuming traditional, herbal medicines.
Why do traditional medicine practitioners oppose him
His vocal criticism of traditional medicine has also earned him many opponents, especially among Ayush medicine practitioners, who claim that Dr. Philips's claims are defamatory.
In February 2022, the AYUSH ministry had warned him over his criticism about the use of giloy, a highly popular herbal medicine, and he was served a notice from the Kerala State Medical Council for Indian Systems of Medicine.
What is Himalaya's case?
Dr Philips's X account was withheld in a plea by Bengaluru-based Himalaya Wellness Company, which argued that his social media post about one of their products was defamatory.
In August last year, Dr. Philips had posted critical remarks on Liv.52, a product of the company that liver disease patients use.
The Bengaluru Civil Court on Thursday passed an ex-parte interim injunction order and asked X to withhold Dr Philips's account in India.
What?TheLiverDoc said
Following the development, Dr Philips said he was never informed about the case, and his account was suspended without the court even listening to him.
While the account is withheld in India, it is available outside the country.
Dr Philips has since doubled down on his allegations and said everything he said about Liv.52 is based on scientific data.
"Hello Himalaya Ayurveda shame on you. This is not how you make a rebuttal. When you have no proof to show for your deficiencies and your lackadaisical "publications" you shoot the messenger," he said in a post.
Many public health and legal experts have criticised the suspension of the account, calling it an insult to scientific thinking and a setback to the fight against medical misinformation.
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