US president’s remarks connected the fashionable painkiller, amended known arsenic paracetamol globally, punctual outcry from doctors and aesculapian bodies.
Published On 23 Sep 2025
United States President Donald Trump has urged large women to debar Tylenol, besides known arsenic paracetamol, implicit the painkiller’s unproven links to autism, prompting swift backlash from doctors and scientists.
Trump issued the informing connected Monday arsenic the US cause regulator announced plans to adhd a statement to paracetamol informing of an accrued hazard of autism and ADHD successful children.
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“Don’t instrumentality Tylenol. Don’t instrumentality it,” Trump said during a quality league astatine the White House portion flanked by apical nationalist wellness officials.
“Fight similar hellhole not to instrumentality it,” Trump said.
“There whitethorn beryllium a constituent wherever you person to, and that you’ll person to enactment retired with yourself.”
Trump besides formed uncertainty connected the aesculapian statement connected puerility vaccines, suggesting that inoculations for measles, mumps and rubella should beryllium administered separately alternatively of successful the combined MMR shot.
“This is based connected what I feel. The mumps, measles – the 3 should beryllium taken separately,” Trump said.
“And it seems to beryllium that erstwhile you premix them, determination could beryllium a problem.”
Trump’s comments drew condemnation from aesculapian bodies, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), which person agelong recommended paracetamol arsenic 1 of the fewer painkillers that is harmless for women during pregnancy.
About fractional of large women worldwide are estimated to instrumentality paracetamol – which is sold successful antithetic countries nether marque names including Dyman, Panadol and Panamax – for symptom alleviation and to trim fevers, which tin beryllium perchance unsafe to some the foetus and the expectant mother.
ACOG president Steven J Fleischman called the suggestions of a nexus betwixt paracetamol and autism “irresponsible”.
“When considering the usage of medicine successful pregnancy, it’s important to see each imaginable risks on with immoderate benefits,” Fleischman said successful a statement.
“The information from galore studies person shown that acetaminophen plays an important – and harmless – relation successful the well-being of large women.”
While immoderate probe has recovered grounds of an relation betwixt paracetamol and neurological conditions specified arsenic autism, aesculapian experts person cautioned that much robust studies person recovered nary link, and that causation remains unproven.
One of the biggest population-based studies, published by Swedish researchers past twelvemonth successful The Journal of the American Medical Association, recovered nary nexus erstwhile comparing children who had been exposed to the painkiller with siblings who had not.
Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist astatine the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, described the Trump administration’s moves arsenic “hugely negative” for nationalist health.
“The large uncover astir autism was a full bust afloat of misinformation, a deficiency of evidence, atrocious proposal and a bogus reply astir the cause,” Caplan told Al Jazeera.
“I deliberation mainstream medicine volition disregard what helium said today,” Caplan said.
“I deliberation patients can’t spot national subject successful the USA and indispensable crook to different reputable sources.”
In its updated guidelines announced connected Monday, the US Food and Drug Administration cited grounds of a “correlation” betwixt paracetamol usage and autism, and noted studies suggesting a heightened hazard erstwhile the cause is taken “chronically” passim pregnancy.
Still, the cause regulator was notably little emphatic than Trump, noting that a causal narration had yet to beryllium established, and the beingness of “contrary studies successful the technological literature”.
“It is besides noted that acetaminophen is the lone over-the-counter cause approved for usage to dainty fevers during pregnancy, and precocious fevers successful large women tin airs a hazard to their children,” the regulator said.
Autism has nary known azygous cause, but is believed to beryllium related to an interplay of familial and biology factors, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.