Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, also known as The Liver Doc, has taken it to his social media profile to confront actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu for spreading health misinformation. This follows her recent advocacy of hydrogen peroxide nebulization which the man of medicine referred to as "unscientific, pseudoscientific, and baseless."
Yesterday, Samantha responded to criticism from Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips that he should have used a more polite tone in his initial criticism. Dr. Philips's latest post on his (former Twitter) handle reiterated his critique of Samantha arguing that she is a "serial offender" engaged in healthcare misinformation.
"We constantly have to fight digital falsehood because it is being sold by many 'celebrities' with vast followership who are not concerned about public wellbeing," he mentioned. He urged Samantha not to play "victim" and advised her to "unlearn and re-learn".
Left: Influential Indian actress Ms. Samantha Ruth who is unfortunately a health and science illiterate advising millions of her followers to inhale hydrogen-peroxide to prevent and treat respiratory viral infections.
— TheLiverDoc (@theliverdr) July 4, 2024
Right: Scientific society, The Asthma and Allergy Foundation… pic.twitter.com/Ihn2xocKUt
"I expected better from someone who claims that she wants to 'improve.' This is far from an improvement. A rational and logical response would be to delete the public health endangering posts and apologize to her millions of followers and vouch to never quote or cite fraudulent practices or practitioners," he said.
"Toxins may enter our bodies through breathing into our lungs in fumes, gases or smoke. As such, inhalation therapy with hydrogen peroxide vapour could be quite dangerous," he added.
The user in question said that this woman should be charged with endangering public health and perhaps fined or even jailed for it. She needs help or a better advisor in her team.
Samantha Ruth Prabhu clarified that she simply shared an alternative treatment option as suggested to her by "a highly qualified doctor" with the best of intentions. No doubt, I did not want to misinform anyone but just wanted to share the other type of treatment she had been recommended.
She wrote a three-page long post and shared it on social media again, defending herself to what had happened. But this time, the netizens did not take it well and asked her not to keep offending herself every time she made a mistake.
On the work front, the actress will next be seen in a web series for the third collaboration with directors Raj and DK. She also has Maa Inti Bangaaram in the pipeline. The film is produced by her home banner Tralala Pictures.
