Cyriac Abby Philips

Cyriac Abby Philips is an Indian hepatologist and clinician-scientist. He is known for his critical views of alternative medicine. He is known as "The Liver Doc" on social media where he frequently discusses his findings and research works on the negative effects caused by alternative medicines and practices.

Cyriac Abby Philips
Philips in 2023
Born
Kottayam, Kerala[1]
Other namesThe Liver Doc
EducationSt. John's Medical College (MBBS),[2]
Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (MD)[2]
Occupations
  • Hepatologist
  • clinician-scientist
Parent

Early life

Philips was born in Kottayam, in the state of Kerala, the third of four siblings.[1]

Career

In 2019, Philips co-authored a paper analyzing the death of a woman who died after taking Herbalife's dietary supplements, which was later retracted by Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology.[3][4] The retraction was undone, after microbiologist Elisabeth Bik and Retraction Watch, published the paper on their respective blogs.[5]

Philips is known for airing his critical views of Ayurveda, Homeopathy and other alternative medicine systems, on Twitter and YouTube.[5][6][7] According to him, the "principles and practice of ayurveda are based on essentially primitive, untested, observations from an ancient past which lack scientific rigour”. He has been the target of defamation lawsuits from Kerala State Medical Council for Indian Systems of Medicine,[8][9] Ayurveda Medical Association of India, and various ayurvedic medicine manufacturers.[5] In a research published in Hepatology Communications, Philips and other researchers concluded that Homeopathic remedies can potentially result in severe liver injuries.[10][11] He claims, "[Homeopathy] is not medicine, but an extreme form of quackery."[12]

On 28 September, 2023, Dr. Abby Philips' X account was suspended after an interim injunction order was passed by a Bengaluru court for defaming Himalaya Wellness Company.[13] However, Philips maintains that his allegations against Himalaya Wellness Company are "fully science-backed and evidence-backed" and that all the analysis which he had done are available for public review.[14]

Philips works as a senior consultant hepatologist and physician-scientist at Rajagiri Hospital in Kochi.[15][16]

Personal life

He is the son of Padma Shri recipient, Philip Augustine,[6] and is the father of two daughters and a son.[15]

References
  1. Parth Sharma (3 September 2022). "Debunking Magical Cures and More- A Physician's Battle Against Pseudoscience". nivarana.org. Archived from the original on 21 October 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  2. "Doctor-Profile". www.rajagirihospital.com. Archived from the original on 22 November 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  3. Bik, Elisabeth (20 December 2020). "Paper about Herbalife®-related patient death removed after company threatens to sue the journal". Science Integrity Digest. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  4. Philips, Cyriac A.; Augustine, Philip; Rajesh, Sasidharan; John, Solomon K.; Valiathan, Gopakumar C.; Mathew, Jos; Phalke, Sameer; Antony, Kuruveetil L. (1 March 2019). "REMOVED: Slimming to the Death: Herbalife®-Associated Fatal Acute Liver Failure—Heavy Metals, Toxic Compounds, Bacterial Contaminants and Psychotropic Agents in Products Sold in India". Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hepatology. 9 (2): 268–272. doi:10.1016/j.jceh.2018.08.002. ISSN 0973-6883. PMID 31024209.
  5. Sohini C (5 February 2023). "Doctor lifts lid on dark side of India's 'wellness', traditional medicine sector". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  6. Theres Sudeep (27 December 2022). "Who is challenging Ayurveda in today's India? Meet Kerala doctor, Cyriac Abby Philips". ThePrint. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  7. "Doctor slams Filocof cough syrup, says 'contains parts of dead cockroach'". Mint. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  8. "Liver specialist accused of professional misconduct for calling Ayurveda 'pseudoscience'". The Hindu. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  9. "Charges dropped against Kerala doc who flagged herb meds for causing liver injury". The News Minute. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  10. "'This is crazy!': Doctor flags alcohol amount in homeopathic drugs, warns 'happy people'". Hindustan Times. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  11. Theruvath, Arif Hussain; Raveendran, Resmi; Philips, Cyriac Abby; Ahamed, Rizwan; Abduljaleel, Jinsha K; Tharakan, Ajit; Rajesh, Sasidharan; Augustine, Philip (March 2023). "A series of homeopathic remedies-related severe drug-induced liver injury from South India". Hepatology Communications. 7 (3): e0064. doi:10.1097/HC9.0000000000000064. PMC 9916127. PMID 36757412.
  12. Manpriya Khurana (16 March 2023). "From alcohol to dead cockroaches; how homeopathy pushes quackery to new limits". International Business Times. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  13. "X suspends 'TheLiverDoc' Abby Philips account after Himalaya's defamation plea". 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  14. "X Account of 'The Liver Doc' Suspended After Court Issues Ex-Parte Injunction in Suit Filed by Himalaya". 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  15. Pooja Biraia Jaiswal (1 January 2023). "Docfluencers provide genuine information to millions". theweek.in. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  16. Preetu Nair (11 June 2021). "Kerala: Doctor sees bid to defame him using 'toolkit'". Times of India. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
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