London —
Backlash has been swift and forceful as other parts of the world woke up to US President Donald Trump’s comments blaming – without solid evidence – acetaminophen and certain vaccines for autism in children.
“Don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine. In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists,” UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting said in a televised interview on Tuesday. “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this.”
It comes after Trump announced Monday the US Food and Drug Administration will notify doctors that the use of Tylenol – the brand name for acetaminophen, known in most countries as paracetamol – during pregnancy can be associated with a “very increased risk of autism.” Despite decades of evidence that it is safe, Trump suggested that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy “if you can’t tough it out.”
The medicine regulatory agencies of the European Union and the United Kingdom also quickly issued statements Tuesday confirming that taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe.
“Paracetamol remains an important option to treat pain or fever in pregnant women,” Steffen Thirstrup, chief medical officer of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), said in a statement. “Our advice is based on a rigorous assessment of the available scientific data and we have found no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.”
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