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. The order was issued by a Bengaluru Civil Court in a suit filed by Himalaya Wellness Corporation.
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.
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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.
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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.
Infact, @theliverdr questioned AYUSH ministry multiple times about their massive spending of public money on traditional medicine. credits @ScienceIsDope_ pic.twitter.com/78ibq1shwD
¡ª Balu ? (@ImBalavishal) September 28, 2023
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.
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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.
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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.
"I was suspended from Twitter for speaking for science and rationalism. Thank you for your support. The fight is on" - @theliverdr#StandWithAbby #LetEvidenceLead pic.twitter.com/3ZG72BAWPd
¡ª esSENSE GLOBAL (@esSENSEGlobal) September 28, 2023
"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.
I cannot wrap my mind around why Courts issue such broad injunctive orders ex-parte.
¡ª Dinesh S. Thakur (@d_s_thakur) September 28, 2023
Anyone who reads the allegations listed in the court order and follows Abby's work knows this is absolute bunkum.
Maybe lawyers here can help us understand @Preddy85 @sanjayuvacha @grumpeoldman pic.twitter.com/qKa9SLe5uj
Himalaya has duped doctors and patients for a long time using deceptive marketing. Now that matter is in court , we won't stop till #Liv52 is withdrawn from the market. No drug should be marketed without evidence. More power to @theliverdr . Hey @HimalayaIndia see you in court.
¡ª Dr Srinivas MD (@srinivasaiims) September 29, 2023
So glad to see the widespread support for @theliverdr. Hope that this thoughtless order by the Bangalore civil court is reversed by a higher court soon enough. The fight against medical disinformation is as essential as the one against political disinformation. In fact, while¡
¡ª Pratik Sinha (@free_thinker) September 28, 2023
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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