Sonali Bendre Responds to Backlash Over Cancer Treatment Comments
Bollywood actress Sonali Bendre has clarified her position after facing criticism for discussing autophagy and naturopathy as part of her cancer journey. The actress emphasized she shares only her personal experience as a survivor, not medical advice.
Key Takeaways
- Sonali Bendre faced criticism for promoting autophagy as cancer treatment
- She clarified she only shares her personal experience as a survivor
- Doctor Cyriac Abby Philips emphasized evidence-based cancer treatments
- Both parties advocate for respectful dialogue about cancer care
The Controversy Begins
The debate started when Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips, known as The Liver Doc on X, criticized Bendre for promoting naturopathy and autophagy studies for cancer treatment. He reminded that chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery helped her recover from stage 4 metastatic endometrial cancer.
“Dear Ms. Bendre, as a clinician sub-specialist treating a multitude of cancer patients daily, I expected better from you. Cancer-survivors, especially celebrity cancer-survivors are an important asset/resource for cancer patients and their families when it comes to science based, rationalistic and logical therapeutic journeys which help improve outlook towards cancer diagnosis, care and prevention. You are not helping here, by promoting quackery,” a part of his long X post read. “I repeat, your cancer went into remission after chemotherapy, radiation and surgery at an advanced cancer treatment hospital. Not because of Naturopathy. Not because of autophagy. Because you have the option (and privilege) to opt for the best treatments from scientific practice to help you,” the post added.
Bendre’s Response
The actress clarified her position, stating she never claimed to be a doctor but is sharing her lived experience as a cancer survivor.
“I have never claimed to be a doctor, but I am certainly not a quack either. I am a cancer survivor, someone who has lived through the fear, pain, uncertainty, and rebuilding that the disease brings,” she wrote on X. She further added that everything she had ever spoken about had been from her experience and her learning. She reiterated that she explored autophagy after thorough research and medical guidance.
“As I’ve repeatedly said, no two cancers are the same and no treatment path is identical. One of the many protocols I personally explored, after thorough research and medical guidance, was autophagy. It made a difference for me them and continues to do so today, for me,” she wrote.
“What truly matters is open, respectful dialogue. We don’t all have to agree, but we should avoid dismissing one another simply because we lean toward different approaches. Each person must choose what feels right, safe and empowering for them. I will always share my journey with honesty and humility, never as a prescription, but as a lived experience,” she added.
Doctor’s Clarification
Following Bendre’s response, Dr. Philips clarified that he didn’t intend to call the actress a quack, but was referring to her naturopath practitioner.
“Sonali Bendre is not a quack. The Naturopath she is taking advice from is a quack,” he wrote.
“Sonali Bendre, like many others before her and many more after her, are victims of “big claims, zero evidence” pseudoscientific practices such as Naturopathy. The whole point is not to victimize Ms. Sonali, but to focus on the aspect that education does not equate to intelligence and intelligence does not equate to rationality.We need to be rational humans so that we can make logical conclusions based on evidence, not experience or anecdotes.Critical thinking skills must be taught in schools instead of prayers and poems so that no Naturopath and such scammers take our children for a ride in the future, like majority of our adult population is going through now.” he wrote.
The exchange highlights the ongoing debate between and evidence-based medicine in cancer care.
