Actor Samantha Ruth Prabhu has been “in the line of fire” after her “nebuliser” post. The actor, best known in Bollywood for her portrayal of an antagonist in Amazon Prime Video’s Family Man 2, earlier shared a health advisory for her social media followers.
“Before taking medication for a common viral, consider trying an alternative approach. One option is to nebulize with a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and distilled water. Works like magic. Avoid unnecessary use of pills (emoji),” she wrote while sharing her photo with a nebuliser.
Her post was slammed by Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips, commonly known as “The Liver Doc” on social media.
“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,” he wrote.
“In a rational and scientifically progressive society, this woman will be charged with endangering public health and fined or put behind bars,” he added.
Samantha reacted. She wrote a detailed post and shared it on Instagram.
Samantha called doctor’s criticism “harsh” even though she acknowledged his greater knowledge and noble intentions. She felt his words were “provocative”, especially the suggestion that she should be jailed.
“I was merely suggesting a treatment as an option after undergoing it myself, for others who may be looking for options because conventional medicine isn’t working for them. Especially more affordable options," she wrote.
The doctor has now reacted to Samantha’s “explanation” and hit back again. He accused her of “playing the victim card and endorsing more alternative practices”.
“Please note, she is a serial offender in the context of healthcare misinformation and she has been in the line of fire previously too. The reason why doctors like me have to spend (waste) time from our busy schedules to fight misinformation online is because it is peddled by large influential "celebrity" accounts that have no regard for public health,” he wrote.
The doctor urged celebrity influencers to unlearn dogmatic views, develop critical thinking skills and support medical science instead of victimising themselves. He also mentioned that he would neither comment on nor debunk any of Samantha’s future posts.
“You can’t help people that don’t want to be helped,” he wrote while quoting British philosopher John Armstrong.
