Has an Indian doctor exposed America’s ‘Don’t Die’ billionaire as a fraud?

In internet slang, what happened on March 30 could be referred to as ‘shots fired’.Hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips – with nearly 3 lakh followers on X – called entrepreneur and venture capitalist Bryan Johnson, whose primary claim to fame is his ongoing endeavour to beat death, “a well-evolved masculine form of a fraudster.”Dr Philips – better known as LiverDoc – said it is terrifying that the world has not yet seen through Johnson’s fraud and that he was “selling both expensive and utterly useless investigations and peddling potentially dangerous snake oil supplements in the name of” running an experiment that he claims will help humans live forever.Johnson calls the experiment Blueprint. While Johnson initially appeared to take the criticism calmly, and later privately messaged Dr Philips, the largely one-sided debate only raised more questions about the venture capitalist’s supplements that claim to extend one’s life.Given Blueprint products aren’t drugs or medical devices, they don’t require any kind of regulatory approval as long as they aren’t found to be unsafe.This exchange also came at a time when other questions were being raised about the billionaire’s conduct at the workplace and other aspects of his life. What started the exchangeJohnson is presently CEO of the company Blueprint. He also heads his own religion called ‘Don’t Die’. In his post on X, Dr Philips likened him to Elizabeth Holmes and Belle Gibson, both of whom saw remarkable surges in wealth and influence while offering lifestyle fixes but subsequently were proven to be fakes. It is terrifying that people do not see Bryan Johnson as actually a well-evolved masculine form of fraudsters Elizabeth Holmes and Belle Gibson, selling both expensive and utterly useless investigations and peddling potentially dangerous snake oil supplements in the name of… pic.twitter.com/qjts5KKXTF

— TheLiverDoc (@theliverdr) March 30, 2025 Holmes dropped out of Stanford University and founded blood testing startup Theranos in 2003. The startup claimed to be able to diagnose hundreds of conditions with a few drops of blood, raised over $700 million from investors and Holmes was estimated to be worth $4.5 billion in 2014. Then it was revealed the company’s promised technology didn’t work and Holmes went to jail in the US for defrauding investors. She’s scheduled to be released in 2032. In Gibson’s case, she claimed to have beaten brain cancer using alternative therapies and nutrition. She made over around 400,000 Australian dollars thanks to an app and spin-off cookbook. After being exposed as a fraud who never suffered from brain cancer, she was fined. Both women were the subject of TV serials about their downfall. In Johnson’s case, there’s a Netflix documentary about the extreme measures he’s going through in order to slow ageing.Johnson weighs in, then vanishesIn response to the first post, Johnson questioned why Dr Philips was “so angry” and said that products sold by his company Blueprint included extra virgin olive oil, proteins, nuts, and nutrients “which have independent and robust scientific evidence.” Johnson claimed that they were third-party tested, affordable and the certificates of analysis were publicly available. medium nocaption119973923He also messaged Dr Philips on the platform to show him the products and schemes being marketed by the company. In response, Dr Philips shared the message and his responses to the billionaire. In one response to the private message, the doctor questioned the basis on which dosage of the supplements were being recommended to customers and whether they had any scientific basis. He questioned whether a drink supplement recommended by the company had undergone any kinds of studies to check if it actually delivered on its promise.Dr Philips said that “BluePrint basically offers things you find in a Walmart for a lesser price which you re-package as longevity supplements along with a host of botanicals,” some of which, he added, have documented adverse events.“Certificates of analysis are not scientific evidence and BluePrint is a scam. If it's not, you will answer my questions below,” he wrote. medium nocaption119974128 119974144Johnson didn’t reply to the questions publicly but posted that it was “poor taste” by the doctor to have shared the private messages publicly. medium nocaption119974091Questions about herbs and riceA day after exchanging messages, Dr Philips in a long post on X detailed the various problems that he had with the things that Blueprint was doing. In it, he referenced a recent New York Times article which spoke about - among other things - his company’s employees being made to sign non-disclosure agreements to not talk about his behaviour in the workplace. In the post, Dr Philips questioned how the company was marketing a longevity mix without any evidence to indicate how much a person should consume in a day. He questioned how the same dose was applicable for adolescents, adults and the elderly. “Where are the preclinical studies or at least a pilot trial that clarifies that this mix improved longevity in at least small animals?” he wrote. He questioned another supplement that had herbs ashwagandha and rhodiola. Dr Philips said it was being sold as “an age-defying, nervous system supporting, cognitive function enhancing, immune system harmonizing formulation” but didn’t have any evidence to back the claims. Dr Philips, who has pointed out the dangers that come with excessive consumption of untested herbal formulations many times over the years, said that ashwagandha is known to cause severe liver toxicity and isn’t safe for everyone. With the herb rhodiola, he pointed out there wasn’t enough reliable information to know if it’s safe to use over the long-term.“Side effects include dizziness, dry mouth, excessive saliva, and in some cases, may worsen autoimmune conditions. Reports have shown that the additional consumption of Rhodiola rosea (golden root or roseroot) was suspected to have caused a herb-herb interaction resulting in the liver injury in patients,” he wrote. “On what basis are you mixing these two herbs and advising people to consume them? And for how long? How did you come to that dosing and duration? Any study to confirm it? Where is the study that shows that the combination is useful and safe? Will you be responsible for the severe side effects?” Dr Philips wrote.He pointed out that another product called ‘Red Yeast Rice’ was being backed with vague claims. Dr Philips questioned if Johnson knew that “the presence of citrinin and monacolin K in red yeast rice, which is chemically similar to statins,” leading to potential side effects like muscle, kidney, and liver damage in consumers?” “Your ingredient description on red yeast rice and analysis documents do not mention the level of citrinin or monacolin K in your product. How did you come to the conclusion that this product is useful? Can you guarantee that through clinically relevant evidence, your product is found to be effective and safe?” he asked. Dr Philips ended by asking Johnson to reply to his questions by showing clinically-relevant evidence. He said that while Johnson had criticised Baba Ramdev, the billionaire and the ayurveda-yoga guru were the same. “You are nothing but a smooth talking snake-oil peddling version of Baba Ramdev in the USA,” Dr Philips wrote.Other allegations against JohnsonAmong the allegations highlighted in a recently-published New York Times article was the fact that Johnson and his leadership team got volunteers to pay to participate in a test of their supplements and meal plan called ‘The Blueprint Stack’ in 2024.Instead of standard clinical testing procedures, participants in the test had to pay $2,100 to enrol. The report said that test results showed that of the nearly 1,700 study participants, about 60% experienced at least one side-effect. Among the issues found was that some participants’ testosterone levels dropped and some of them became prediabetic. The NYT report relied on documents and data from the company and said it was unclear how severe the side effects were. Others have also been questioning the claims made by the venture capitalist in his campaign. One such video questioned whether the meals being served by Blueprint were just from another meal service being branded with the company’s signage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TitXsLVJqyoThe NYT report said that Johnson’s longevity doctor Oliver Zolman left Blueprint in 2024 after raising concerns about the results of the study done on the company's products. Johnson tweeted after the report was published that Zolman left to address mental health concerns and before the study results were known.In a separate post, he claimed that they had fixed any issues that were there with the meal and supplement plan, and that “reported side effects are now negligible.” Another fact the report highlighted was the use of confidentiality agreements by Johnson to keep workers, partners and even vendors from being able to talk about him and the company. The report said at least three former employees are challenging these agreements on the grounds that they violated laws that protect workers speaking up about workplace conditions. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXv6B73l32AThe report said that Blueprint employees - around 30 in number - had to sign additional agreements which said they were fine with Johnson wearing “little and sometimes no clothing/no underwear” and with hearing “discussions of sexual activities”. They also had to agree that Johnson’s behavior was not “unwelcome, offensive, humiliating, hostile, triggering, unprofessional or abusive.”The report said that the company was also facing financial challenges despite having around 40,000 customers. However, recruiting mails of the company still cite it as being profitable. Johnson has debunked the NYT report and claimed that it got most of its facts wrong. He claimed on X that the report only caused more customers to sign up and has continued to promote ‘Don’t Die’ events and Blueprint products. However, he still hasn’t responded to any of Dr Philips questions after the initial response. The New York Times tried to come for me and missed.

What was meant to be a takedown ended up reading like a profile piece. + they spent a year digging + talked to 30 people, incl former fired employees + propped up my ex as their star witness (who tried to extract $9 million… pic.twitter.com/Q4OAM7GHPT

— Bryan Johnson (@bryan_johnson) March 21, 2025