Doctors, health professionals, and medical associations across the world are pushing back on the Trump administration’s decision to promote quack science linking autism to vaccinations and Tylenol.
On Monday, President Donald Trump led a press conference alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and TV Dr.Mehmet Oz, now head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Trump falsely claimed that there is a link between vaccinations and autism in children, a long-debunked unscientific claim. Trump also singled out the use of acetaminophen, widely known by the brand name Tylenol, for purported linkage to autism. These claims are all untrue.
The Trump administration’s dangerous decision to advise U.S. doctors to follow guidelines restricting the use of acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol) and vaccines was rejected both internationally and domestically.
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The European Medicines Agency told Reuters, “Available evidence has found no link between the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and autism.”
The United Kingdom’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, known as MHRA, told citizens there that using these drugs during pregnancy is safe, rejecting the U.S. government’s unscientific assertion.
“Paracetamol remains the recommended pain relief option for pregnant women when used as directed,” Dr. Alison Cave, the MHRA’s chief safety officer, said in a statement.
The sentiment was echoed by Australia’s chief medical officer and the country’s medicines regulating agency, who teamed up to release a statement.
“Robust scientific evidence shows no causal link between the use of paracetamol in pregnancy and autism or ADHD, with several large and reliable studies directly contradicting these claims,” the joint statement said.
U.S. doctors also spoke out against the claims made by their own government.
“Today’s White House event on autism was filled with dangerous claims and misleading information that sends a confusing message to parents and expecting parents and does a disservice to autistic individuals,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a release.
The group noted that studies have repeatedly found “no credible link” between the medications cited by Trump and instances of autism.
“Any effort to misrepresent sound, strong science poses a threat to the health of children,” the AAP added.
Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, made a similar point in a statement.
“Suggestions that acetaminophen use in pregnancy causes autism are not only highly concerning to clinicians but also irresponsible when considering the harmful and confusing message they send to pregnant patients,” he said.
The Trump administration’s bizarre claims were the manifestation of worries about Oz and Kennedy when they were first nominated for key positions. Both men have pushed quack cures and junk science, and in Kennedy’s case his advocacy of fake science has been blamed for measles deaths.
Both men received overwhelming support from most Republican senators during the nomination process and were opposed by all voting Democrats.
For his part, Trump was infamous for promoting almost nonstop medical misinformation about COVID-19 at the height of the pandemic, including his suggestion that people inject themselves with bleach.
