Paracetamol (acetaminophen): A familiar drug with an unexplained mechanism of action

Paracetamol (acetaminophen) is undoubtedly one of the most widely used drugs worldwide. As an over-the-counter medication, paracetamol is the standard and first-line treatment for fever and acute pain and is believed to remain so for many years to come. Despite being in clinical use for over a century, the precise mechanism of action of this familiar drug remains a mystery. The oldest and most prevailing theory on the mechanism of analgesic and...