The opening pages of The Liver Doctor reveal a thinking that may not quite sit with the confrontational online persona of its author Dr Cyriac Abby Philips.

“From the time you are born, Death becomes your friend. The only one destined to advance towards you and finally embrace you. Death is your friend. Always has been,” he says, on the journey of a medical professional, dealing with death at some point. “I became a doctor not to help people cheat Death but to prepare them to understand it and, in the process, learn the value of embracing life,” he writes, rather sensitively.

The online persona of the doctor, though, is a harsh, polarising one calling out traditional systems of medicine, in a manner that appears to pander to the gladiatorial audience on social media, rather than engage in a civil scientific argument, more becoming of a respected doctor. Perhaps his book gives readers an idea of why that is.

Initially, he did engage on microblogging site Twitter (now X) to explain liver health. He was surprised with its “power to change public perception and spark meaningful dialogue…” But his first encounter, “was not entirely pleasant”, he says. His stated purpose was to share insights on liver injuries and the risks of alternative medicines. But that brought on the trolls and he was called a host of things, including a “big-pharma endorser” for discussing studies that slammed Ayurvedic therapies, he recalls.

Stories of patients

Overwhelmed by the abuse, he took a pause and came back — only to find that Twitter (X) had not changed, but the way he communicated with the “often harsh crowd” had, he says, as he started sharing stories of patient families — on herbal liver injuries, liver diseases, drug-induced injuries, and effects of alcohol. These were stories of “challenging diagnoses and exhausting battles fought within hospital walls — sometimes ending in the loss of a patient”.

This pattern reflects in his book too, as he takes us through the stories of 14-year-old SaiKrishna, who came in “jaundiced and lethargic”. Hailing from a lower-economic background, and possibly needing an expensive (₹25 lakh) liver transplant — the doctor takes us through her medical journey and his assessment of the damage caused by anti-seizure syrups, prescribed by an ayurvedic practitioner. There is also the incident of Shankar, and his recurrent brain failures — his treatment, getting discharged from hospital after three weeks and throwing the “Kayam Churna (that he was consuming as a laxative) out of the window”.

Unlike the doctor’s blunt, abrasive approach on Twitter (X), the book is readable, and the patient stories delve into liver conditions and products that trigger health issues. The finger-pointing of ayurvedic products continues, and it comes with explanations.

While the patient stories outline the doctor and his patients’ experiences — with reasoning that’s insightful — a reader with a scientific mind is left searching for more detail to connect the dots. For example, in the case of modern medicine, a drug is prescribed to treat a specific problem, prescribed for a period of time, followed-up with diagnostic tests to monitor outcomes. The book does not seem to indicate if the traditional products prescribed to his patients were indicated for a limited time, to be monitored thereafter. That question lingers. Indiscriminate use of any product, traditional or otherwise, could lead to disastrous outcomes. As doctors themselves will tell you, no medicine is without a side-effect.

That said, the book is engaging and reveals aspects of traditional products that are not often explained in as many words. As a doctor’s journey, it reveals moments of vulnerability that doctors often bury and soldier on. In his case, he talks of crying in the shower on losing a patient. The writing is reflective, to his childhood and back, and sometimes introspective, “Walk your dog into the sunset, Sit on the beach, Listen to the waves…”

Title: The Liver Doctor: Stories of Love, Loss and Regeneration

Author: Dr Cyriac Abby Philips

Publisher: Harper Non Fiction

Price: ₹499

Published on July 26, 2026