The X (formerly Twitter) account of Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, who is popularly known as ‘theliverdoc’, has been suspended in India after the Himalaya Wellness Company secured a court order against him. Himalaya Wellness Company approached a Bengaluru court seeking to restrain Dr Abby from “tweeting, making or publishing, re-tweeting and republishing defamatory remarks against” Himalaya Wellness company or its products; and to direct X to suspend his account. Dr Abby, a Kerala-based hepatologist and clinician-scientist, makes critical comments about alternate health remedies, especially AYUSH medicines and is a popular voice on X.
Advocate Udaya Holla, who appeared for the company, had argued that the business of the company had “substantially reduced” after Dr Abby posted “derogatory statements and materials against the products of the company”. He had also argued that such posts were an attempt to “push the products of Cipla and Alchem”. Cipla and Alchem are leading pharmaceutical companies.
In the past, Dr Abby has taken on several Himalaya products, particularly the company’s —- medicine Liv52. In 2021, Abby’s assertion that Liv 52 aggravates pre-existing liver disease had gone viral. He had presented his research on the same.
The court passed a temporary injunction restraining Dr Abby from “tweeting, making or publishing, re-tweeting and republishing defamatory remarks” against Himalaya Wellness company or products; and directed X to suspend/block the social media handle - both till the date of next hearing. The case has been posted for hearing on January 5, 2024.
Speaking to TNM, Dr Abby said that the allegations of Himalaya are false and baseless. “Before the court, Himalaya has claimed that all my posts against their products and practices are defamatory, and they have lost business because of that. They have also alleged that I'm doing this at the behest of modern medicine pharma companies like Cipla and Alchem. All of these are baseless claims. I think this is pure defamation from their side on me, because I am not involved in such activities. Every post that I have made on Himalaya or Himalaya products showcases the lack of scientific evidence, regulation, standardisation, and the presence of adulteration and contamination in the products which have harmed many patients,” he said.
He also added that all of his posts are backed by scientific evidence and previously published studies. “I have all the data of patients, toxicology analysis, etc. - everything that proves and substantiates every claim that I have made against Himalaya and their products. Whatever they're doing is out of vendetta against me because they cannot give a proper straightforward scientific answer to any of the posts that I have made,” he said.
Dr Abby Philips is known for his posts about liver health, especially his critical comments about how improperly prepared AYUSH remedies pose a threat to liver health. He has received around 15 legal notices in a few years, and his lab was attacked by homeo practitioners once. He got a notice from the Kerala State Medical Council for Indian Systems of Medicine for an interview regarding the ill effects of ingesting a widely used herb Giloy (Tinospora cordifolia), the charges of which were later dropped. He was also part of the research team that published a study that found that homoeopathic remedies could promote severe liver injury.
Read: Study finds homoeopathy causes severe liver injury, doctors condemn public funding