The European Union and British health agencies have reaffirmed the safety of paracetamol use during pregnancy, rejecting claims by U.S. President Donald Trump that linked the common painkiller to autism.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Tuesday said evidence of such a link remained “inconsistent” and warned against drawing hasty conclusions.
Trump, at a White House press conference on Monday, also questioned the safety of routine childhood vaccinations, elevating claims that medical bodies say are not supported by science.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it found “no link between the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and autism,” stressing that the drug, known as Tylenol in the United States, could be used when necessary, though at the lowest effective dose and duration. Britain’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) issued a similar assurance on Monday.
WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević noted that while some studies suggested a possible association, subsequent research failed to confirm it. “This lack of replicability really calls for caution in drawing causal conclusions,” he said.
On Trump’s broader remarks, Jašarević was categorical: “Vaccines do not cause autism. This is something that science has proven, and these things should not really be questioned.”
