Paracetamol—better known in Indian households as Crocin or Dolo-650—is among the most trusted medicines for fever, headaches, and everyday body aches. It is cheap, easily available, and widely prescribed across the country. For millions of Indians, especially pregnant women who have limited safe pain-relief options, it is a lifeline.
But a new controversy brewing in the US threatens to cast a shadow on this humble tablet. President Donald Trump has asked doctors not to prescribe paracetamol to pregnant women, citing unproven links with autism. His Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—a vocal vaccine skeptic—has gone further, calling for a warning label on the drug.
Indian doctors are alarmed. “There is no conclusive evidence that paracetamol causes autism. To demonise it is scientifically unsound and socially dangerous,” said Dr Ramesh Shah, a practicing family physician in suburban Mumbai.
A basic internet search shows that India is one of the largest consumers of paracetamol in the world. From rural health centres to urban pharmacies, it is the go-to drug for fever management. As per reports, during the Covid-19 pandemic, sales of Dolo-650 became so widespread that it even sparked memes about how every household had a strip tucked away.
Doctors whom THE WEEK spoke to said that if misinformation around paracetamol spreads globally, India could face two challenges - one that expectant mothers may avoid the medicine altogether and two, that regulators in India may come under pressure to restrict paracetamol use.
While the former could leave pregnant women vulnerable to untreated fevers, the latter could
undermine trust in essential, affordable medicines at a time when India’s public health system is already overstretched.
Public health experts note that the Trump-Kennedy campaign against paracetamol mirrors the anti-vaccine rhetoric that has hurt immunisation drives worldwide. “It is the same anti-science playbook—sow doubt, confuse the public, and politicise health,” says an infectious diseases specialist in Delhi.
India, which runs one of the largest immunisation programmes in the world, has already seen how misinformation such as WhatsApp rumours about polio or Covid vaccines can derail public trust. The paracetamol scare could be the next battlefront, says Dr Shah.
The fallout is not just medical but also economic. India is among the top producers of paracetamol formulations, with a robust domestic pharmaceutical industry that supplies to Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. Any dent in confidence could hit exports and add to pressure on Indian drugmakers already dealing with pricing controls and quality scrutiny.
"At its core, the debate isn’t about paracetamol alone—it’s about how politics in the US can ripple into India’s health ecosystem. When one of the most powerful countries in the world questions a common medicine without strong evidence, it risks global mistrust that India cannot afford," asks activist Kamayani Mahabal of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan.
For millions of Indians, paracetamol offers basic relief and its effectiveness has been proven time and again, not withstanding political rhetoric.