Doctor calls Samantha Ruth Prabhu 'health illiterate’, actor claps back

NEW DELHI: After a doctor on social media criticised Samantha Ruth Prabhu as a "health and science illiterate" for sharing alternate health treatments, the actor has called him out for being rude.

Ruth Prabhu, who has been open with battle with Myositis diagnosis, had recently shared about the benefits of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation but the doctor, whose real name is Dr Abby Philips and goes by the social media handle The Liver Doc, had slammed the actor for sharing misinformation with her fans. According to his X profile, he is a hepatologist. He has over 2.5 lakh followers.

In a long statement, posted on Instagram on Friday, Ruth Prabhu, who has 35.3 million followers on the platform, said over the years, she has gone through many different types of medical treatments advised by highly qualified healthcare professionals and they have not always worked.

This led her to read up on "alternate therapies and treatments" and what she shared on social media was done with "good intentions" and suggested by a highly-qualified doctor, who is an MD and has served DRDO for 25 years.

“A certain gentleman has attacked my post and my intentions with rather strong words. Said gentleman is a doctor too. I have no doubt that he knows more than I do. And I’m quite sure his intentions were noble.

“It would have been kind and compassionate of him had he not been so provocative with his words, especially the bit where he suggests that I should be thrown in prison. Never mind. I suppose it goes with the territory of being a celebrity,” the 37-year-old actor wrote.

Ruth Prabhu, who revealed her Myositis diagnosis in 2022, said her post was not a paid endorsement but she will be more careful in future.

Philips, who had called out “The Family Man” star on Thursday and countered her post by sharing a link to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America’s study about the dangers of hydrogen peroxide nebulisation, responded to her statement and called her a “serial offender” in the context of healthcare misinformation.

“Ms Samantha Ruth Prabhu has responded to my ‘provocative’ criticism of her endorsement of unscientific, pseudoscientific and baseless alternative medicine therapies by playing the victim card and endorsing more alternative practices.

“I expected better from someone who claims that she wants to improve. This is far from improvement. A rational and logical response would be to delete the public health endangering post and apologise to her millions of followers and vouch to never quote or cite fraudulent practices and practitioners,” he wrote on X.

He said he won’t comment or debunk any of the actor’s “future endorsements” of such alternative healthcare advice.