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President Donald Trump’s claim that children of pregnant women who use paracetamol have a higher risk of developing autism is not supported by evidence, according to a comprehensive review of the research to date.
the study The study, published in The Lancet late Friday, found no clinically significant increase in the likelihood of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability. US leader and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested that the drug could affect brain development.
Analysis of previous work supports advice from leading medical bodies that paracetamol is safe for use in pregnancy under current guidelines. It warns that previous research papers alleging harm may be unreliable as they are likely to contain distortions.
“Public statements suggesting such a link risk exaggerating the findings of earlier observational studies, which were vulnerable to confounding and bias,” said Asma Khalil, senior author of the new paper and professor of obstetrics and maternal medicine at City St George’s, University of London.
“In this sense, those claims are not supported by current scientific evidence, and they may cause unnecessary concern in pregnant women.”
The study did not explicitly reference the political controversy over paracetamol, known as acetaminophen in the US. But its starting point is that “concerns have emerged” about the drug’s effects.
The researchers said the findings suggest that familial and genetic factors, including a tendency towards autistic traits seen in successive generations, are “more plausible explanations” for the appearance of the condition than “any direct effect of paracetamol”.
Khalil and colleagues attempted to weigh up previous research to exclude studies with potential biases, such as participants who inaccurately recalled their paracetamol intake or suffered from other conditions that could affect their baby’s health.
The studies included validated questionnaires or medical records, details of maternal health conditions and treatments, and compared pregnancies with and without paracetamol exposure.
The research gave top priority to larger studies that compared the outcomes of siblings where the mother took paracetamol during one pregnancy but not the other.
Such study designs are intended to minimize the potential influence of differences between children due to factors such as parental genetics, socio-economic background, and home environment.
How researchers evaluated the study
first stage
4,147 Study examined paracetamol use by pregnant women 4,092 Excluded because reported results were not relevant
Step 2
55 Full text articles were evaluated, one of which 12 were excluded for reasons such as relevance, design and lack of data
step 3
43 The papers of which were systematically reviewed 17 High-quality studies were selected for detailed statistical meta-analysis, with priority given to sibling comparisons
Khalil acknowledged the limitations of his team’s work, including that very few studies done so far have used sibling or family-based designs.
If further useful research is to be done on paracetamol, it should delve deeper into reliably measurable factors such as the concentration of the drug in the blood, Khalil said.
Other scientists welcomed the latest review. Ian Douglas, professor of pharmacoepidemiology at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said it was “timely and well conducted” and gave a “reasonably strong” defense of the role of paracetamol as a treatment option for pregnant women suffering from pain or fever.
In September, Trump linked consumption of branded paracetamol Tylenol during pregnancy to autism in children – a link the drug’s manufacturer, Canview, has denied.
In October, Kennedy said that anyone who takes paracetamol during pregnancy – unless they have to – is “irresponsible”. He said the administration was “conducting studies to build evidence” it caused harm.
The paracetamol case has become a touchstone for critics who say some of the Trump administration’s health policies rely on selective use of data, highlighting useful studies while ignoring contradictory research.
near the white house Andrea Baccarelli citedSenior Writer at Paper published in August It added that children exposed to paracetamol during pregnancy may have a higher risk of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Baccarelli, dean of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, revealed at the time that he had appeared as a witness for the claimants in a lawsuit involving possible links between paracetamol use during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders.
According to court filings, he was paid at least $150,000 for his work. The judge dismissed the case and supported defense attorneys’ argument that Baccarelli “cherry-picked and misrepresented” the study’s results.
Baccarelli and the Harvard TH Chan School have been contacted for comment.
