The UK health secretary has told the public to ignore Donald Trump's unscientific claims linking the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in children. Wes Streeting said there is no evidence for such a link and urged people to trust British doctors and scientists over the US president.
Trump also suggested that parents should delay or avoid some vaccines for their children, warning against 'the largest pile of stuff' injected into babies. The World Health Organization responded by stating that vaccines do not cause autism and that questioning their value is misguided.
Several global regulators, including the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), the European Medicines Agency (EMA), and Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration, have all confirmed that paracetamol is safe for use during pregnancy and found no causal relationship with autism. The MHRA warned that untreated pain and fever can pose risks to the unborn baby.
Trump made the remarks alongside his health secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr, who has a history of making unproven health claims. Experts note that autism diagnoses have risen, but attribute this to broader diagnostic criteria and increased awareness, not to vaccines or painkillers.
