Paracetamol Pandemic

Dolo 650. Almost unheard of before Covid hit us, the brand became a name, the country began to associate paracetamol with. Data suggest that the consumption of painkillers shot up by 23% in India last year. Has the pandemic turned us into excessive pill-poppers? Devina Sengupta spoke to me, ET Prime’s Vikas Dandekar and ET’s … Read more

Have scientific bodies failed us?

The ICMR has increasingly drawn criticism from India’s doctors and scientists, who have questioned its drug recommendations & lack of transparency on data related to variants. Countrywide, doctors started writing these prescriptions, which artificially inflated the cost for Covid management,” I said. “Big Pharma was laughing all the way to the bank and ultimately the … Read more

Cost of Curing Covid

High hospital bills and black marketing of drugs and oxygen make the treatment of Covid-19 prohibitively expensive. Malini Aisola, co-convenor of the All India Drug Action Network, ET’s Kiran Somvanshi and I discuss the flaws in the existing setup and the steps to fix the financial burden of Covid-19.