Donald Trump said “a lot of stupid people are running things” in America as he made unfounded claims linking paracetamol to autism.
On Monday, Trump officially pushed the unproven claim that paracetamol and vaccines are linked to autism.
Trump urged pregnant women not to take Tylenol, a popular brand of pain relief in the US. Its active ingredient is acetaminophen, better known as paracetamol outside of North America.
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Speaking from the Roosevelt Room of the White House last night, Trump said that the ‘meteoric rise’ of autism is a ‘horrible, horrible crisis’.
He added that it is ‘among the most alarming public health developments in history’.
Trump said that the US Food and Drug Administration would be issuing notices that using the drug during pregnancy can ‘be associated with a very increased risk of autism, so taking Tylenol is not good’.
He also said that there is ‘no downside to not taking it’.
But in a press conference entirely about unproven medical claims and conspiracy theories, Trump did actually hit upon one kernel of truth when he told reporters: “We’ve got a lot of stupid people in this country running things.”
Elsewhere in the press conference, Trump struggled with the pronunciation of acetaminophen, and claimed that Cuba has “virtually no autism” because the country “doesn’t have the money for Tylenol.”
Trump’s claims have been strongly discredited by the vast majority of medical experts. Health officials in the UK have stressed that paracetamol remains the safest painkiller available to pregnant women, and is one of the only safe painkillers for pregnant women. It remains important for treating maternal fever and pain, which can also have negative effects for children.
In a statement on Monday, Dr Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Trump’s announcement “is not backed by the full body of scientific evidence and dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children”.
Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Campaigns at the National Autistic Society said Trump’s comments are “dangerous, anti-science and irresponsible.”
“President Donald Trump is peddling the worst myths of recent decades. Such dangerous pseudo-science is putting pregnant women and children at risk and devaluing autistic people.
“Let’s be clear – painkillers do not cause autism and vaccines do not cause autism. Large-scale studies have shown that there is no robust, scientific evidence to support this claim. It’s nothing more than fearmongering.
“The incessant misinformation about autism from President Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr risks undermining decades of research by respected experts in the field.
“Understandably, autistic people will be dismayed and frightened by this announcement, and we would urge our Government and the NHS to stand by autistic people and to condemn this misinformation. To do otherwise risks creating further fear, stigmatisation and harm.”
A large study published in 2024 found no evidence of a link between using paracetamol while pregnant and an increased risk of autism in children.
The study looked at a population sample of 2.4 million children in Sweden and concluded that there was no increased risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability that can be definitively linked to acetaminophen.
Whilst autism diagnoses have increased significantly since 2000, this is largely attributed to increased autism awareness and an expanding definition of the disorder.