Is Vicks Action 500 banned in India?

Vicks Action 500 is the cold tablet that first taught Indians the phrase "banned drug", and it has been through two rounds.

The original tablet contained phenylpropanolamine (PPA), a decongestant linked to haemorrhagic stroke. On 10 February 2011 the Health Ministry banned PPA under GSR 82(E). Vibcare's table records a Madras High Court stay on the single-ingredient ban, whose current standing is flagged for verification, but Procter & Gamble reformulated regardless. The paracetamol + chlorpheniramine + PPA combination itself was formally prohibited in the 156-FDC list of 2 August 2024.

The replacement, Vicks Action 500 Advanced, combines paracetamol, phenylephrine and caffeine. It was banned on 10 March 2016 under S.O. 713(E) as part of the 344-FDC wave. The Delhi High Court quashed that wave on 1 December 2016. When the Supreme Court took up the government's appeal on 15 December 2017, it sent the list back to the Drugs Technical Advisory Board but excluded combinations licensed before 1988; Vicks Action 500 Advanced was in that excluded group. It therefore escaped the 328-FDC re-ban of September 2018 and remains on sale while the older combinations are examined.

The content plan places the product in the "under examination" category. Whether the expert review that produced the June 2023 ban on 14 older FDCs also cleared or covered this one should be verified against that notification.