GENEVA, Sept 23 — European Union and British health agencies confirmed today the safety of paracetamol during pregnancy, disputing a warning from United States President Donald Trump linking the popular pain medication to autism.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said that evidence of a link remained inconsistent and urged caution in drawing conclusions.
Yesterday, Trump linked autism to childhood vaccine use and the taking of Tylenol by women when pregnant, elevating claims not backed by scientific evidence to the forefront of US health policy.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said today that there is no new evidence that would require changes to the region’s current recommendations for the use of paracetamol, known as Tylenol in the US, during pregnancy.
“Available evidence has found no link between the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and autism,” the EMA said in a statement, adding that paracetamol could be used during pregnancy when needed, though at the lowest effective dose and frequency.
Yesterday, Britain’s health regulator said it is safe to use.
“The evidence remains inconsistent,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told a Geneva press briefing when asked about a possible link between paracetamol use in pregnancy and autism.
He cited unspecified studies that pointed to a possible link but said this was not confirmed by subsequent research. “This lack of replicability really calls for caution in drawing casual conclusions,” he said.
Viktor Ahlqvist, lead author of the largest scientific study into possible links between paracetamol use during pregnancy and autism, said the Trump administration “seemed to have misunderstood the available evidence”.
“We do not find support that paracetamol in pregnancy would cause autism,” Ahlqvist said, referring to their study, which looked at 2.5 million pregnancies in Sweden.
Ahlqvist said exposure to any type of medication during pregnancy correlates with adverse outcomes in children, typically not because of the drug but the underlying health problems for which they might need it.
In a highly unusual press conference at the White House yesterday, Trump delivered medical advice to pregnant women and parents of young children, repeatedly telling them not to use or administer the painkiller and suggesting common vaccines not be taken together or so early in a child’s life.
The advice from Trump goes against that of medical societies, which have cited data from numerous studies showing that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, plays a safe role in the well-being of pregnant women.
Asked to elaborate on Trump’s remarks, Jasarevic said vaccines do not cause autism and affirmed their life-saving qualities. “This is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned,” he added.
