Fake Message Attributed to Dr Devi Shetty Viral After Puneeth Rajkumar's Death

Narayana Health clarified that the viral message following Puneeth Rajkumar's death was not given by Dr Devi Shetty.

Fact-Check | Dr Devi Shetty didn't issue any statement talking about the probable cause of Puneeth Rajkumar's death.

(Photo: The Quint)

Following the death of Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar, a message purpotedly from Dr Devi Shetty, Founder and Chairman of Narayana Health, has gone viral on the internet. It talks about the possible reasons for his death.

According to the viral message, Dr Shetty said that several celebrities in their 40s, including Rajkumar, died because of "doing too much to be fit".

However, Narayana Health issued a statement and confirmed that it was a fake message and Dr Shetty had not given such a statement.

CLAIM

The viral message says, "This is a msg. from Dr.Devi Shetty.

Dr Devi Shetty

For all my friends....

In the last few years, I have lost at least 8 to 9 people known to me personally, and a few celebrities too, who were in their 40s who died because of doing too much to be "fit". Unfortunately they only looked fit, six packs and all. Today Puneeth Rajkumar gets added to this list."

An archive of the post can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

It went on to talk about how to take care of one's body in terms of diet, exercise, and managing stress.

The same messaged was copied and posted by several other users on Facebook. Some users also mentioned in their post that they had received it on WhatsApp.

WHAT WE FOUND

Forty-six-year old actor Puneeth Rajkumar died of a cardiac arrest on 29 October sending his fans and well-wishers into a shock. Dr Ranganath Nayak, Chief Cardiologist of Vikram Hospitals, where the actor was admitted, said, "Despite prolonged, advanced and aggressive measures, the patient continued to be non-responsive and asystolic."

We looked for news reports or interviews of Dr Shetty from 29-30 October since the message was in context of Puneeth's demise. We found a video published on Times Now's Twitter handle where Dr Shetty talks about heart conditions on Indians.

In the segment, Dr Shetty says, "Every 40-year-old Indian male is a heart patient unless proven otherwise" and recommends echocardiogram and cardiac CT angiograms for them, especially those who routinely exert themselves in the gym. However, from the very beginning of his statement, he refuses to talk specifically about Rajkumar. He also does not say the things written in the viral message.

The Quint accessed a statement released by Narayana Health wherein they clarified that Dr Shetty had not given such a statement.

Statement from Narayana Health.

(Photo: Accessed by The Quint)

"NH would like to clarify that this forwarded message supposedly from Dr Devi Shetty, is fake and did not originate from his office. Any reference or attribution made to him is incorrect", the statement said.

This is not the first time a fake message has been attributed to Dr Shetty. Back in March 2020, during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, an audio clip talking about monitoring one's symptoms and getting tested for coronavirus had gone viral.

The Quint got in touch with Dr Devi Shetty who denied having released any such audio clip.

Evidently, a made up message attributed to Dr Devi Shetty, talking about actor Puneeth Rajkumar's death, has gone viral.

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