Cyriac Abby Philips, a Kochi-based hepatologist, clinician-scientist, and crusader against alternative medicines, is gearing up for a legal battle to get his account in X (formerly Twitter) restored after it was withheld by the social media giant on a verdict passed by a civil court in Bengaluru.
His popular account (@theliverdr) was withheld by X in India on Thursday following the ex-parte injunction order passed by the court in a suit filed by Himalaya Wellness Corporation alleging that the doctor had been making defamatory allegations against the company through his account. The account, however, is accessible outside India.
“I have had consultations with my lawyers. We are about to appeal the order in a higher court. The Bengaluru court had passed the orders without hearing me,” said Dr. Philips, head of the hepatology department of the Aluva-based Rajagiri Hospital, who had been locked in a battle with the company for the past few years.
He had been questioning the scientific basis of many products which he claimed led to liver-related complications. He had last made a post on the issue some three months ago.
“My allegations were backed by solid evidence, including documentary evidence like test results from independent government-approved labs and cited published reports of research groups that studied their products. The company had accused me of campaigning against traditional products on behalf of modern medicine companies to push their products. That allegation is completely baseless and amounts to defaming me since the expenses of conducting the product analysis, toxicology analysis, etc. of the products of the company were met out of my own pocket,” Dr. Philips said.
In response to an email query by The Hindu, Himalaya Wellness sought three to four days’ time to respond.
