Himalaya Wellness Corporation moves to court against hepatologist over alleged defamation, doctor's X account suspended

Bengaluru: Following a lawsuit filed by Himalaya Wellness Corporation, a civil court in Bengaluru has now directed X (formerly Twitter) to suspend the account of Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips, who is a hepatologist from Kerala and operates the popular X handle '@theliverdr'.

The civil court bench issued such an ex-parte interim injunction order after Himalaya alleged that Dr. Philips made defamatory allegations against the company products.

Apart from issuing directions to suspend the X account of Dr. Philips, the court also restrained the doctor from tweeting or publishing any defamatory remarks against the Himalaya Wellness Corporation.

"...the urgency made out by the plaintiff company would show that an immediate order has to be passed as sought for in IA No.1 and 2 of 2023 before issuing notice against the Defendants. In the facts and circumstances issue ad-interim exparte temporary injunction order restraining the Defendant No.1 from tweeting, making or publishing, re-tweeting and republishing defamatory remarks against the plaintiff company and / or the products of the plaintiff company till next date of hearing," ordered the civil court.

Dr. Philips, who is known for voicing his opinion regarding Ayurvedic products, previously came under the radar of the Kerala State Medical Council for Indian Systems Of Medicine after he gave a controversial interview where he allegedly claimed that the use of certain herbs such as Giloy (chittamruthu) can be harmful to the liver. Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the doctor also allegedly called the traditional branch of medicine called Ayurveda, a 'pseudoscience'.

Last year, he alleged that one of his patients died "due to Ayurveda herbals related liver and kidney injury and intercurrent infections, leading to multiple organ failure." In a Tweet, Dr. Philips had expressed how a clinically stable person became disoriented and pre-comatose position after consuming some Ayurvedic medicines. 

Recently, Himalaya filed a suit against the doctor alleging that Dr. Philips was posting derogatory statements and materials against the Himalaya products, and due to this, the company has faced substantial reduction of business. It was further alleged that the concerned statements and materials posted on the X account of Dr. Cyriac were false.

Also Read: Allopathy Vs Ayurveda Debate erupts as Kerala Doctor Alleges Patient death from Ayurvedic Herbs

Himalaya further alleged that the doctor was posting such contents because of the cut throat competition with the products of Cipla and Alchem and the doctor was making such posts with the intention of promoting such latter products. The petitioner company also relied upon the orders passed by the Supreme Court, Karnataka High Court, Madras High Court and Delhi High Court while considering such matters.

Referring to those judgments, the civil court noted, "A reading of the said judgments would sensitize one as to the gravity of the consequences of such materials being posted on the platform like the one noted supra. The judgments also indicate that there is a need to issue adinterim ex-parte injunction directing the party who is posting such materials to remove them at the earliest so as to minimize the damage caused to the person who is affected by such postings in any manner like loss of reputation, loss of income in monitary terms and disservice to the consumers who are benefited by the products like Liv-52."

"In view of the facts presented by the plaintiff company and also in view of the law declared in various judgments relief on by learned Senior Advocate, the facts of the case warrant that the notice against the Defendants before granting ad-interim order has to be dispensed with. In other words, the urgency made out by the plaintiff company would show that an immediate order has to be passed as sought for in IA No.1 and 2 of 2023 before issuing notice against the Defendants," further observed the Court.

With this observation, the court issued the ad-interim exparte temporary injection and restrained the doctor from tweeting, making or publishing, re-tweeting and republishing defamatory remarks against Himalaya and/or the products of the petitioner company till the next date of hearing. Further, the Court directed X to suspend/block the social media handle of Dr. Philips.

"In the facts and circumstances issue ad-interim exparte mandatory injunction directing the Defendant No.2 to suspend/block the social media handle of the Defendant No.1 bearing link “ https://twitter.com/theliverdr? ref_src=twsrc^google |twcamp^serp|twgr ^author ” till next date of hearing," ordered the Court.

The matter has been posted for further hearing on 5th January, 2024. As per the latest media report by Indian Express, Dr. Philips told the Daily that he will challenge the order in a higher court. He further mentioned that he had been highlighting everything from a scientific point of view and based on his conversations with patients.

“I got the samples of these (the company’s) products tested from a third party independent lab, which are government and regulator approved… I have posted all the reports on my Twitter handle. Everything was done as per standard protocol and scientific methodology…,” he claimed.

Confirming that he will challenge the order in the higher court, he further added, “I will definitely challenge this in the higher court because this is not the way we deal with scientific studies and debates. I was not a party to the hearing and was never called for the hearing and never knew this thing was happening in the first place. I got to know when the order came out and that too from Twitter, not even from the court.”

Speaking to India Today, Dr. Philips called the complainants "cowards" and opined that the complainants should instead challenge his scientific claims. He told the Daily, "Himalaya is showing their cowardice. They are acting like cowards in this situation instead of providing scientific rebuttals to my posts or my claims against their products."

Referring to the claims alleging that he has been making these posts at the behest of modern pharma companies, Dr. Philips added, "All of these are baseless claims because every post of mine on Himalaya products, especially the Liv.52, their flagship product, are all backed by scientific evidence from where I have analysed their products showing adulteration, contamination and substandard contents."

Dr. Philips pointed out how there is absolutely no regulation on these products and added that previously he also shared published data showing that "some of these products are dangerous for people, especially those with chronic liver disease."

"Every post that I have made on Himalaya or Himalaya products showcases the lack of scientific evidence, the lack of regulation, the lack of standardisation and the presence of adulteration and contamination of products that have harmed liver patients," he further told the Daily.

He further revealed how he along with his team conducted a study on people who developed liver injury after consuming Liv.52, a popular Himalaya product. "The paper is currently under peer review. I have all the data and analysis that prove every claim I have made against Himalaya and their products. They are doing it out of vendetta against me because they can't give a proper, straightforward answer to any of the posts that I have made," he added.

The X (formerly Twitter) handle @theliverdr, which started in the year 2019, is suspended as seen today. Confirming that the account has been withheld, the X handle mentioned, "@theliverdr has been withheld in IN in response to a legal demand."