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Cyriac Abby Philips

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Cyriac Abby Philips
Philips in 2023
Born
Kottayam, Kerala,[1] India
Other namesThe Liver Doc
EducationSt. John's Medical College (MBBS),[2]

Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (MD)[2]

Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (DM)[2]
Occupations
  • Hepatologist
  • clinician-scientist
FatherPhilip Augustine

Cyriac Abby Philips is an Indian hepatologist and clinician-scientist. He is known for his critical views of complementary and alternative medicine. He is popularly known as "The Liver Doc" on social media where he frequently discusses his findings and research work on adverse effects caused by alternative medicines and related pseudoscientific practices, specifically, herb-induced liver injury.

Early life

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

Career

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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 works as a senior consultant hepatologist at Rajagiri Hospital in Kochi.[6][7]

Social media activism

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Philips is known for airing his views of Ayurveda, Homeopathy and other alternative medicine systems. [5][8][9] According to him, the "principles and practice of ayurveda are based on essentially observations from an ancient past which lack scientific rigour”. He has a PR team on social media and has been the target of lawsuits from Kerala State Medical Council for Indian Systems of Medicine,[10][11] 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.[12][13] He claims, "Homeopathy is not medicine, but a form of quackery."[14]

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[15] However, Philips maintains that his allegations against Himalaya Wellness Company are "fully science-backed and evidence-backed" and that all the analysis which he and his team had done are available.[16]

Personal life

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He is the son of Padma Shri recipient, Philip Augustine[8][6]

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References

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  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c "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. (Retracted, see doi:10.1016/j.jceh.2019.12.005, PMID 32025170,  Retraction Watch)
  5. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b Pooja Biraia Jaiswal (1 January 2023). "Docfluencers provide genuine information to millions". theweek.in. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  7. ^ Preetu Nair (11 June 2021). "Kerala: Doctor sees bid to defame him using 'toolkit'". Times of India. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  8. ^ a b Theres Sudeep (27 December 2022). "Who is challenging Ayurveda in today's India? Meet Kerala doctor, Cyriac Abby Philips". ThePrint. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  9. ^ "Doctor slams Filocof cough syrup, says 'contains parts of dead cockroach'". Mint. 11 March 2023. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  10. ^ "Liver specialist accused of professional misconduct for calling Ayurveda 'pseudoscience'". The Hindu. 6 February 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  11. ^ "Charges dropped against Kerala doc who flagged herb meds for causing liver injury". The News Minute. 5 October 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  12. ^ "'This is crazy!': Doctor flags alcohol amount in homeopathic drugs, warns 'happy people'". Hindustan Times. 14 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
  13. ^ 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.
  14. ^ Manpriya Khurana (16 March 2023). "From alcohol to dead cockroaches; how homeopathy pushes quackery to new limits". International Business Times. Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  15. ^ "X suspends 'TheLiverDoc' Abby Philips account after Himalaya's defamation plea". 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
  16. ^ "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.
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