The Liver Doc lambasts Deepinder Goyal as ‘rage’ mounts over ₹85,000 Temple device: ‘Bad science’, ‘fraud’ | Today’s news
Hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, popularly known as ‘The Liver Doc’ on X, on Thursday slammed Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal while defending his Temple fitness facility. ₹85,000. The Liver Doc called Goyal’s Temple a “scam” soon after the Zomat chief spoke about the “outrage” and concerns raised by the medical community against the wearable.
Temple is a high-tech wearable healthcare device developed by Zomato and Eternal founder Deepinder Goyal. It’s a pill-shaped sensor designed to stick to the side of the head near the temple.
According to its website, Temple is “a wearable device for continuous cerebral blood flow monitoring, positioned around cerebral hemodynamics, performance and broader brain health applications.”
On 21 October 2026, founder Deepinder Goyal announced that pre-orders for Temple Batch 01 will open on 1 November 2026.
How does it work? The information on the website explained that “entropy” measures how hard your body is trying to get rid of heat, as read from your sleep.
At rest, it shows the load your body carries across many systems: thermal, immune, digestive, cognitive, emotional, pharmacological, postural, reproductive, and recovery. Healthier bodies maintain low entropy at rest and we call this your resting entropy.
During activity, heat dissipation becomes predominantly aerobic. The highest entropy you can maintain near your maximum heart rate is your maximum entropy.
Your resting entropy and your peak entropy combine into a range: a single number that tells you how well your body is doing across a wide range of systems.
Criticism: While many questioned the science behind the device, Goyal clarified on Thursday that the Temple is a fitness/wellness tracker and not a medical device that requires clinical validation. “We are a fitness/wellness wearable – completely beyond the reach of doctors,” said Goyal.
‘The Liver Doc’ attacks Deepinder Goyal
Philips, aka “The Liver Doc,” challenged Temple’s scientific claims, particularly its ability to measure cerebral blood flow and “entropy,” and accused the company of misleading users through unproven claims and dubious research methodology.
In response to Goyal’s explanation regarding X, The Liver Doc said, “As expected, he wrote a word salad. This man has not presented any real evidence or proof that his device, which he sells for INR 85,000/-, can measure and interpret cerebral flow from a superficial artery…”
He claimed that Goyal’s own “Chief of Science Avi Roy acknowledged the fact that their device had not yet been shown to measure brain flow or ‘entropy’ as they claim on their website, and also directly addressed concerns of poor methodology and statistical bias without responding to clear evidence of data falsification in their pre-printed papers.”
Liver Doc said: “Other wearables like the Whoop (which he cited) have measured and validated exactly what a wearable can measure within the limits of human anatomy and physiology.”
“Temple is overdoing it and cheating its potential customers,” he added.
Liver Doc claimed: “The device can only measure blood flow and facial surges in humans and has absolutely NOTHING to do with the brain as it claims. That’s the problem, not what may happen in the future. The device itself does not fulfill its primary purpose.”
Hitting out at Goyal, he said, “There is no our science and your science. But there is bad science, fringe science, and scientific fraud, and Team Temple has embraced all of this.”
“The Temple facility is a scam. There is no doubt about that. But the question is, how long can this man and his team continue to deceive people under the guise of ‘we spend millions for you’ or ‘we try our best’ or ‘we take risks’?.,” said The Liver Doc.
How Deepinder Goyal defended Temple: 7 points
Deepinder Goyal of Zomat posted a message on X to “concerned Indian doctor”, defending his Temple facility on seven points. He said, “I see your rage against Temple on X. I have a few points to make.” Here is what he wrote on X:
1. “A business lesson above all: if Temple was a scam and anything we said wasn’t true, people would know after just a few days of using Temple. We have a 14-day no-questions-asked return (which even Apple doesn’t offer in India). If the product doesn’t work, it’s out of the gate before it recovers and the company finds itself in a decade.”
2. “We have already spent $30 million to build the temple, $20 million of which is my own money. Selling a few thousand devices will recoup a small portion of that investment. A scam that pays nothing is not a scam that anyone would do.”
3. “I left the role of Eternal CEO to pursue a purpose with Temple. This isn’t about money. I have enough to last generations. My incentives are fully aligned with getting the science right. I’m not betting a 20-year reputation on making a quick buck.”
4. “Our employees joined our round a few months ago. The round we’re raising now is mostly our customers. Fraud doesn’t make the cap table.”
5. “Most wearable companies start with in-house studies. Whoop submitted their band in 2015, and the first published validation followed a few years later. We hold ourselves to a higher standard; preprints are a step ahead of peer-reviewed publications, and they’re coming.”
6. “At some point, you have to stick your neck out and say: we believe in our science, and the product is now valuable enough for people to pay for it and use it. We believe we’re there. Further validation continues in the public domain.”
7. “We are confident that we are building something that will positively astound the world. We stand behind our science and our methods. Each of our claims is easily verifiable by individuals and institutions, and you will see many independent studies come into their own once the equipment is available for use.”
Goyal concluded by saying that the most revolutionary elements in Temple are not even public yet. “And fortunately some of them have nothing to do with doctors 🤭,” he added.
In another post, he responded to those looking for “clinical evidence,” saying, “Temple is a fitness tracker and wellness device. We are not a medical device. If at some point we clinically validate any of our metrics, we will let you know.”
Goyal actively responded to criticism of the device on X. Commenting on one such post, he said: “Temple is not a medical device. So there is no need to verify any clinical results. We are a fitness/wellness wearable – completely beyond the reach of doctors.”
“Peer review is a process; it will happen inevitably and soon. Yes, we are also building Blinkit Ambulance with that money,” he added.
