Hepatologist Cyriac Abby Philips to Challenge Suspension of Social Media Account Amid Legal Dispute with Himalaya Wellness

Cyriac Abby Philips, a hepatologist in Kochi who is known online as The Liver Doctor and disproves what he calls false medical and scientific claims, plans to appeal a Bangalore civil court order that suspended his X account after Himalaya Wellness Company claimed he had "posted derogatory statements" about a specific product.

On September 23, Philips received a shock when his X account was suspended based on an interim injunction by the additional city civil and sessions court. Philips has been running a sustained campaign against herb-induced liver injuries allegedly caused by what he claims are inadequately tested and unscientific ayurvedic and homeopathic formulae.

He didn't realize the move was based on a request from the Bangalore-based Himalaya until after he had written a piece criticizing the well-known off-the-shelf product Liv-52.

Although the court order was issued a few days prior, the development was made public on Thursday when the doctor's social media followers noted that his X page was being "withheld."

Late on Thursday, Philips issued a video statement on his Instagram profile announcing that he will challenge the temporary ruling of the civil court suspending his X account. "So what we're going to do is that we've found a few people who will support me in fighting this legally," the speaker said. We will need to challenge this injunction ruling, and we intend to do so, he added.

Philips later admitted to The Telegraph that he was unaware that Himalaya had filed a lawsuit against him or that a court order had been issued until he obtained a copy of the letter that the legal team for Himalaya had submitted to X asking for the suspension of his account in accordance with the court order.

He responded, "I have not received any documents, so I don't know when they moved court," and added that the letter from the law firm to X was dated September 24. He noted that he doesn't even know when the case was filed, saying, "This was completely done behind my back and completely blindsided me."

Legal authorities stated that given the urgency and the plaintiff's claim of commercial loss, the court is free to issue such an interim injunction. 30 days are given to the defendant to answer.

It was impossible to contact Himalaya Wellness for comment.

In the order, the court cited the arguments made by Himalaya's counsel, senior attorney Uday Holla, that "posting derogatory statements and materials against the products of the plaintiff company and due to the said act of the Defendant No. 1 the business of the plaintiff company has substantially reduced".

The attorney said that the doctor's materials were "per se false and not justified."

Further, the firm claimed that Philips was acting in its own best interests since "making such publication is nothing but cut-throat competition with the products of the plaintiff company with sole intention to push the products of (two drug companies)".

The court took notice of the senior attorney's use of precedent set by comparable decisions decided by the Supreme Court and the high courts of Karnataka, Madras, and Delhi in his request for an interim injunction.

The court mandated: "The judgments also indicate that there is a need to issue an ad- interim ex-parte injunction directing the party who is posting such materials to remove them at the earliest so as to minimise the damage caused to the person who is affected by such postings in any manner, such as loss of reputation, loss of income in monetary terms, and disservice to the consumers who are benefited by the products like Liv-52."

Philips refuted Himalaya's claim that he had disparaged the company's product without justification. He said in the Instagram video message, "This is very unfortunate," and claimed that he was "just following the real scientific method."

"This injunction actually states that I have defamed Himalaya and its product through baseless allegations, which is actually not true," the doctor declared, pledging to keep doing what he has been.

"I'm just using science as a defense, as a shield, to make sure that people aren't hurt by uncontrolled, untested things. I'll keep doing it, and I'm hoping to go back online soon, said Philips.

Philips, a champion of what he thinks are inadequately researched and unscientific healthcare and wellness items, has previously drawn criticism for criticizing extremely well-liked and well-marketed goods.

His clinical studies on herb-caused liver damage has frequently irritated ayurvedic medication producers.

In September 2021, the central Ayush ministry issued a warning to him regarding libelous actions following a complaint made by the Kochi-based Ayurveda Medical Association of India, which referenced Philips's opinion regarding liver problems brought on by some over-the-counter herbal wellness items.

Pankajakasthuri, an ayurvedic pharmaceutical firm situated in Kerala, filed a case against him in 2019 for allegedly disparaging their well-known orthopaedic herbal medication.