A comprehensive new review has definitively concluded that the use of paracetamol (known as Tylenol in the US) during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disabilities in children. This directly refutes previous unfounded claims made by former US President Donald Trump.
The study, published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women’s Health, involved an international team of experts including UK specialists. They conducted a wide-reaching review of research databases, examining 43 studies in a systematic review and 17 in a meta-analysis. Crucially, the researchers included sibling comparison studies, which compare children born to the same mother where paracetamol was taken in one pregnancy but not another.
The authors unequivocally stated that paracetamol exposure during pregnancy “was not associated with the risk” of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, or intellectual disabilities. Professor Asma Khalil, consultant obstetrician and fetal medicine specialist at St George’s Hospital, London, and lead author of the study, emphasised: “We found no clinically important increase in the risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability (among) children where the mother took paracetamol during pregnancy.”
Professor Grainne McAlonan, professor of translational neuroscience at King’s College London, welcomed the findings, stating: “Expectant mothers do not need the stress of questioning whether medicine most commonly used for a headache could have far-reaching effects on their child’s health.” Health Secretary Wes Streeting added his reassurance, saying the review can “yet again, reassure mothers-to-be everywhere that there is no evidence whatsoever to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism, ADHD or disabilities in their children.”
The study’s robust findings aim to definitively address previous unsupported claims made by former President Trump, who had advised pregnant women to “tough it out” rather than take the painkiller. Experts involved in the latest research expressed hope that the results would “bring the matter to a close” and provide clear guidance that paracetamol remains a safe and recommended treatment for pain or fever during pregnancy.