Loved and Loathed: The Making of India's Viral Liver Doctor

In the southern Indian state of Kerala, a doctor named Cyriac Abby Philips treats patients with serious liver disease every day. But outside the hospital, he is famous — and controversial — for something else entirely. On the social media platform X, more than 300,000 people follow him under the name 'Liver Doc.' He uses that platform to defend science-based medicine and call out treatments he believes are fake or harmful.

Supporters say Dr. Philips is a brave voice for honest medicine. Critics say he is rude and unfair. He has called homeopathy 'false medicine' and labeled some alternative health practitioners quacks — a word meaning someone who pretends to have medical skills they don't have. He has also gotten into public arguments with celebrities and told critics their brains were 'for rent.' His posts mix useful public health facts with sharp, sometimes harsh words.

His online presence has created serious real-world problems. India's Ayush Ministry — the government body in charge of traditional medicine — has held two formal meetings just to talk about him. A police officer once traveled two days by train from a faraway state just to question him about something he posted online. In six years, Dr. Philips has faced 16 legal cases, and some of those cases are still going on today.

But the man people meet in person seems very different from his online image. A reporter who spent two days watching him work in his clinic described him as calm and soft-spoken. He listens closely to patients, walks their families through difficult news with care, and never seems to be in a rush. His colleagues and long-time patients use words like polite and unassuming to describe him — not the angry fighter his online posts might suggest.

Dr. Philips says the bold online personality is a choice he has made on purpose. He admits it is like a mask he puts on to get attention for the health messages he wants to share. He says that when people try to argue with him or distract others from the facts, he fights back loudly so the real information still gets through. 'They hate me,' he said. 'But they cannot invalidate the information I give.'

He is willing to accept that some people think poorly of him if it means more people hear the truth about medicine. Whether you find him inspiring or irritating, Dr. Philips has clearly found a way to make millions of people pay attention to public health. In a country where false medical claims spread quickly online, his supporters argue that loud voices like his are badly needed.