Donald Trump’s bombshell claims that over-the-counter painkillers such as Tylenol can cause autism in newborn babies have been immediately debunked by nearly every major government and health organization.
From the World Health Organization to national governments far and near, the message was clear.
“Don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine,” U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting announced on Tuesday.
🚨”Don’t pay attention to Trump’s comments about Autism and Paracetamol” Wes Streeting shuts down Presidents medical claims: pic.twitter.com/oDSZLmBkSW
— Robert O’Halloran (@robohalloran1) September 23, 2025
“There is no evidence to link the use of [Tylenol] by pregnant women to autism in their children. None. In fact, a major study was done back in 2024 in Sweden, involving 2.4 million children, and it did not uphold those claims.”
His words were echoed by the European Medicines Agency, which said that following “rigorous assessment of the available scientific data, we have found no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.”
Trump’s claims, made on Monday, were some of the most astonishing of his presidency so far. After previously claiming to have “found an answer to autism” and promising not to “let it happen anymore,” the president announced that acetaminophen, the active ingredient found in Tylenol, was responsible for an increase in autism amongst young children, and instructed pregnant women to “tough it out” and refuse to take the painkilling drug.
He also said, in comments which risk exposing children to fatal diseases, that women should not vaccinate their newborn babies. “Don’t let them pump your baby up with the largest pile of stuff you’ve ever seen in your life,” he told stunned reporters at the White House. “There’s no downside.”
“Is that a correct statement by the way?” he asked, moments after making the announcement.
So far, the world is not following the lead of Trump and his vaccine-skeptic Health Secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr..
In Ottawa, the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada(SOGC) reaffirmed that “acetaminophen remains a safe and appropriate first-line option for managing fever and pain during pregnancy.
Paul Walsh, Executive Director of the Autism Society of Newfoundland and Labrador, added, “As a Canadian, I rely on the research that’s done here in Canada, which is very scientifically-based and not politically influenced.”
The World Health Organization stated that it would not update its vaccination guidelines in response to Donald Trump’s announcement. “We know that vaccines do not cause autism,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic. “Vaccines, as I said, save countless lives. So this is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned.”
Joining the chorus of professionals decrying Trump’s announcement is Professor Laurie Tomlinson, Research Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
She told the Daily Beast in a statement, “I have assessed the risks to health from numerous medications over the past 15 years, and I am confident that the best available evidence shows us paracetamol is safe to take during pregnancy within the recommended limits and does not increase the risk of children being born with autism.
“These claims seem to ignore numerous factors, including why paracetamol was taken in the first place. For example, women with hypermobility are more likely to have autistic children (since the two conditions are linked), and so may have needed to take paracetamol for joint pain during pregnancy, but it is the shared genetic causes rather than the drug that means that the child is more likely to be autistic.”
She added, “Alongside my research experience, I am also the mother of two autistic children, and I know that this announcement will cause distress and guilt to many parents, who often ask themselves whether they are to blame. I urge those parents to focus on the countless number of reputable sources of evidence published to date that do not show a link between paracetamol and autism, and to seek medical advice from their own GP or health practitioner. I urge you not to get caught up in a political misinformation agenda that is trying to hunt for an ”easy” answer as to how autism develops, and does not serve to help our children.”
Australia’s health regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, also rejected the link between Tylenol and neurodevelopmental conditions and said it would join with other global medicines regulators, leading clinicians and scientists worldwide in rejecting claims regarding the use of paracetamol in pregnancy, and the subsequent risk of development of ADHD or autism in children,” The Guardian reports.
Autism diagnoses have been on the rise throughout the past decade, with one in 31 children aged eight or below being diagnosed with the condition in 2022, according to the CDC.
However, experts have attributed the rise in cases to a broadening of the definition of autism and increased knowledge of the subject, leading more parents to get their children examined and diagnosed.
Health experts cited a landmark study published in 2024, which tracked 2.4 million births and found no link between prenatal exposure to Tylenol and autism.
The post Trump’s Bonkers Autism Claims Rejected by Major Health Organizations appeared first on The Daily Beast.
