This article investigates India’s media discourse on Coronil, a con-tentious drug launched as an Ayurvedic treatment for COVID-19.By analysing four national English-language newspapers in India,we find that with the partial exception of The Indian Express, thereporting on Coronil focused on the legal and logistical aspects ofthe drug release but lacked depth and analysis. Such reporting hassocio-economic and public health implications. The green lightgiven to Coronil confounded the government’s own scientific com-munication during the pandemic, leading to confusing messagingabout the treatment for COVID-19. Moreover, some members ofthe government, judiciary and media adopted the rhetoric of whatwe call populist medical pluralism, justifying the endorsement ofCoronil in terms of the neoliberal economy of ‘choices’ and ‘needs’of the Indian citizens. We show how this populist promotion ofpluralism is linked to the Hindu nationalist discourse