Kerala doctor’s tweet on harmful impact of Ayurveda medicines sparks row

Hyderabad: A tweet on the harmful impact of Ayurveda medicines, made by Dr Abby Philips (TheLiverDoc @drabbyphilips) on social media platform Twitter is attracting a lot of attention towards the efficacy of Ayurvedic medicines in the country.

The liver transplant specialist from Kerala on Twitter said that a clinically stable person became disoriented, pre-comatose, undergoing dialysis and in-severe metabolic acidosis and was put on mechanical ventilator after consuming Ayurvedic herbal medicines for two months. The medicines were apparently prescribed by an Ayush doctor for liver health, Dr Abby Philips tweeted.

The Twitter update by Dr Abby on the patient’s health sparked a lot of discussion on the efficacy of the Indian medicines and the scientific basis of Ayurveda herbals.

Later, Dr Philips tweeted that the patient had died in the early hours of Wednesday due to Ayurvedic herbals-related liver and kidney injury and intercurrent infections, leading to multiple organ failure.

Clinically stable person

Now⬇️
Disoriented, pre comatose
Undergoing dialysis
In severe metabolic acidosis
(high acid levels in blood)
Jaundiced
On mechanical ventilator

After consuming these Ayurvedic herbals x 2mo

Prescribed by Ayush 'doc' for liver health#LiverTwitter pic.twitter.com/LNvfYGCpSP

— TheLiverDoc (@theliverdr) January 11, 2022

Dr Philips pointed out that modern medical surveillance identifies pitfalls, accepts it, rectifies and publicizes it. But pseudoscientific adverse events are ignored, people harmed more”.

Former Additional Director (AYUSH) and Professor in Ayurveda, Dr VL N Sastry from Hyderabad has pointed out that if the doctor is inefficient, and then there will be complications in the patients’ health even if the doctor is an allopath.

“I would urge people not to get swayed by claims made by unqualified people on various social media platforms that they can treat any medical condition overnight through a particular Ayurvedic medication. If people decide to try Ayurveda, then they must look for a qualified Ayurveda practitioner and not some quack,” Dr Sastry points out.

Any kind of medicine if taken in excess will harm the human body and that’s where the role of a qualified and experienced doctor is important. If patients are experiencing a toxic impact of a particular medicine, then it is obvious that the doctor is not qualified and legal action can be taken on such practitioners under the law, he said.