Doctor Tears Into Samantha: 'Science-Illiterate, Selling Fraud Supplements'

Popular actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu is once again facing backlash for her health advice—this time for promoting NMN (Nicotinamide Mononucleotide), a supplement sold by Gataca, a company she co-founded.

Posting an elaborate thread on X (formerly Twitter), Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips, known online as The Liver Doc, cautioned the public to beware of "snake oil salespersons."

The supplement claims to replenish NAD+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide), a coenzyme central to metabolism, purportedly helping users feel sharper, stronger, and more resilient.

Sharing a screenshot of Samantha’s Instagram post, The Liver Doc described her as a “science-illiterate movie celebrity defrauding millions of followers by selling supplements that do not work.”

He called the company fraudulent and explained that none of the clinical trials on NMN’s ability to boost NAD+ lasted beyond three months. Detailing the nature and limitations of these trials, he noted that they did not track morbidity or mortality and were based solely on company-funded formulations.

The Liver Doc also referenced a 2024 systematic review of all randomized NMN trials, which found no lasting improvements in glucose levels, lipids, blood pressure, body composition, or validated aging scores. The review concluded that the studies were “heterogeneous, under-powered, and at high risk of bias.”

Dr. Philips further pointed out that U.S. FDA regulators were unconvinced, banning NMN from being sold as a dietary supplement in 2022. The FDA categorized NMN as an “investigational new drug,” disqualifying it from over-the-counter sales.

Calling NMN an expensive and short-term method to boost NAD+, The Liver Doc emphasized that it has shown no evidence of extending lifespan, slowing aging, or reducing disease risk in any human trial.

“Until actual scientific evidence exists—and until it shows more than cosmetic shifts in lab markers—NMN remains a wallet-draining placebo, not a physician-endorsed intervention,” he concluded.

Samantha has neither refuted nor responded to the criticism so far.