Hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as “The Liver Doc” online, on Tuesday said, he has asked Springer Nature to investigate a July 2025 study by researchers from IIT-BHU and BITS Pilani that analysed cow urine from eight indigenous breeds. In a series of posts on X, Philips said he had asked Springer Nature to investigate the July 2025 paper published in Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology. The study, conducted by researchers from IIT-BHU and BITS Pilani, analysed urine samples from eight cow breeds and reported the presence of compounds that could have applications in healthcare, engineering and technology.According to Philips, the project received Rs 31.04 lakh under the Centre’s Scientific Utilisation Through Research Augmentation–Prime Products from Indigenous Cows (SUTRA-PIC) programme.Calling the paper a “third-rate publication”, Philips alleged that the researchers had misidentified common laboratory contaminants as natural compounds found in cow urine. He claimed the study reported the presence of synthetic chemicals, including a banned pesticide, prescription drugs and toxic substances, which he said should not naturally occur in the samples.“The researchers mistook common lab contaminants, like plastic chemicals and solvents, for natural cow urine compounds,” he wrote. He further alleged that the authors had made health-related claims about several compounds despite those substances not appearing in their own data.Philips also pointed to contradictions between the paper’s text and data tables, poor referencing, lack of statistical analysis and concerns about graphs used in the study. According to him, some figures appeared suspiciously similar and warranted closer examination. He said he had formally written to Springer Nature’s ethics team and the journal’s editors seeking an investigation into the paper’s scientific integrity.He said the Research Integrity team at Springer Nature had taken cognisance and would soo begin the investigation.In an earlier post, he wrote, “I have been spending most of my non-clinical hours looking at the Modi government’s public funded published studies on Cow-based product research that are published in pre-clinical journals. I am truly dissapointed to notice that most of these publications have been poorly peer-reviewed. I do not know how they got through such journals of repute.”Philips is no stranger to controversy. Recently, the ministry of Ayush issued a memorandum seeking action against him over social media posts in which he described Ayurveda as pseudoscience. The ministry said it had received complaints alleging that his remarks were derogatory and defamatory towards Ayush systems of medicine.Responding to the move, Philips said he was being targeted for discussing scientific issues. Referring to the memorandum, he wrote that government officials were attempting to shutdown his social media presence. Citing Article 51A(h) of the Constitution, he argued that citizens have a duty to develop a scientific temper and spirit of inquiry.
