23rd September 2025 • My Family Our Needs

Steven Fleischman, the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ACOG), said, ‘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, including those who may need to rely on this beneficial medicine during pregnancy’.

In the UK, Dr Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency (MHRA), said, ‘Patient safety is out top priority. There is no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children. 

‘Paracetamol remains the recommended pain relief option for pregnant women when used as directed. Pregnant women should continue to follow existing NHS guidance and speak to their healthcare professional if they have questions about any medication during pregnancy. […] 

‘Our advice on medicines in pregnancy is based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence. Any new evidence that could affect our recommendations would be carefully evaluated by our independent scientific experts.’ 

Mel Merritt, Head of Policy and Campaigns at the National Autistic Society, said, ‘This is dangerous, it’s anti-science and it’s 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 – painkiller 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.’ 

‘Let’s be clear – painkiller 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.  

Dr Steven Kapp, Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Portsmouth, and a member of the Coalition of Autism Scientists, said, ‘Rigorous research found that paracetamol/Tylenol does not [cause] autism. Research claiming to find a link does not separate out correlation from causation. Parents of autistic children may be more likely to take paracetamol for reasons including that they are more likely to be autistic, and autistic people are more likely to have pain (to be hypersensitive to pain and to have pain-related conditions). 

‘There is a long history of a cottage industry of false causes and ‘treatments’ offered for autism that prey on desperate people’s hopes and fears. IT is sad that unqualified demagogues continue to disregard science.’ 

Professor Laurie Tomlinson, NIHR Research Professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said, ‘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.’ 

Dr Monique Botha, associate professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University, said, ‘There are many studies which refute a link, but the most important was a Swedish study of 2.4 million births published in 2024 which used actual sibling data and found no relationship between exposure to paracetamol in utero and subsequent autism, ADHD or intellectual disability. This suggests no causal effect of paracetamol in autism.’ 

In other news, the children’s commissioner, Dame Rachel de Souza, has released a report recommending Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCP) be split into three tiers of support.