The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has once again generated controversy by recommending pregnant women not to take paracetamol during pregnancy. According to the president, this drug – one of the most widely used analgesics and antipyretics in the world – is linked to an increased risk of autism in children. The scientific community, however, insists that there is no conclusive evidence to support these claims.
“In Cuba they don’t have Tylenol”.
During an event in Washington, Trump said that in countries like Cuba “there is virtually no autism” because they do not consume Tylenol, the most popular brand of paracetamol in the United States. “That already says a lot,” he assured.
Consequently, he announced that his Administration will recommend limiting the consumption of this drug in pregnant women. He even announced that the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) will modify the product’s warnings to include a possible risk of autism, despite the fact that the main medical associations consider that the evidence does not support this measure.
Vaccines under the spotlight
Trump also suggested that the childhood vaccination schedule should be modified, splitting the application into several visits instead of administering several doses in one act. “You have a small, fragile child, and they put a container with 80 different mixtures in it. It’s better to do it in four or five stages,” he said.
He referred specifically to the quadruple MMRV vaccine (measles, mumps, rubella and varicella), assuring that “when they are mixed, something happens”. He also questioned the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine to newborns, considering that this disease is mainly transmitted sexually, ignoring the fact that the virus is also spread through blood and body fluids.
Renewed Advisory Committee
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., known for his stance against mandatory vaccination, accompanied Trump at the event. Kennedy recently removed all members of the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) advisory committee, citing “conflicts of interest,” and replaced them with vaccine-critical figures.
Science responds
Both the Autism Science Foundation and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists rejected Trump’s arguments. Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, president of the latter entity, stressed that “diseases treated with acetaminophen during pregnancy are far more dangerous than any theoretical risk.”
Most researchers agree that there is insufficient evidence to say that acetaminophen or vaccines cause autism. However, some studies, such as a recent one from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, have suggested a possible association between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen and an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism or ADHD. These studies, however, do not yet allow a definitive causal relationship to be established.
