FALSE CLAIMS THAT a common painkiller causes autism were welcomed by some in Ireland following a press conference yesterday in which US President Donald Trump encouraged pregnant women to “fight like hell” against taking Tylenol, a brand name for paracetamol.

However, while the claim of a causal “link” between paracetamol and autism was readily accepted by some, it was met with skepticism in many Irish readers, including those in fringe groups that made various false medical claims about the Covid-19 pandemic.

In these groups, some said that an increase in cases of autism was more likely to be due to increased diagnosis (a view shared by many in the medical community), while others said that the White House’s condemnation of paracetamol was a coverup for damage caused by vaccines (which Trump also condemned).

Flanked by anti-vaccine activist Robert Kennedy Jr. and celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz (both health officials in his administration) Trump said that paracetamol was “no good” and that there is “no harm” in not taking it.

Trump described autism as being “among one of the most alarming public health events in history”, saying “Autism rates have surged by much more than 400%.”

He also claimed that in some areas of America “one in 12” boys are being diagnosed with autism, but said there are no autistic people within the Amish population of America.

This claim is widespread but wrong: Amish people do have children with autism.

The CEO of AsIAm, Adam Harris, told The Journal that he was “horrified” by the press conference, and that it seemed to be a “concerted effort to bring us thirty years into the past when it comes to acceptance of autism.”

Harris said that we heard repeated last night several “debunked theories of autism” that were sometimes not even based on any medical knowledge, but rather “the President’s own personal views”.

Trump also warned parents about having their children vaccinated – repeating claims that stem from a piece of medical research that linked vaccines as a causation factor for autism, which has been definitively debunked by the World Health Organisation, and widely condemned as an unethical piece of medical research.

“Don’t let them pump your baby up with the largest pile of stuff you’ve ever seen,” he said.

He advised parents to “break it up” and go to the doctor for multiple visits, over multiple years, in order to complete their child’s vaccinations.

Read more on research about autism and vaccine here.

World experts in medicine and research have reacted to the claims, including those based in Ireland.

The official HSE advice is that paracetamol is “safe to take in pregnancy” and while breastfeeding, at recommended doses.

“Take the lowest dose of paracetamol that works for you for the shortest possible time,” the official advice says.

Today the HSE told The Journal: “There is no new evidence that would require any changes to the current advice. No connection between paracetamol and autism has ever been established”.

The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO) today said that the claims Trump and his Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy made today linking autism to vaccines and mothers’ paracetamol usage are “demonstrably false and hugely irresponsible”.

The organisation said that the comments also pose a “real threat to public health”.

“There is no scientific evidence to suggest that paracetamol usage while pregnant is linked to autism in children, and this assertion does nothing but undermine pregnant women’s confidence in the medical system for no justifiable reason at a particularly vulnerable time in their lives,” the IMO said.

The organisation said that Trump’s comments on vaccines were particularly regrettable in a time when Governments around the world are trying to promote a further uptake of vaccination programmes.

Irish scientists have also reacted to Trump’s claims.

Dr Jeffrey Glennon, the Assistant Professor at University College Dublin’s School of Medicine today said that autism affects around 1 in 100 people in Ireland, with autistic traits occurring in 1 in 65.

“There are media reports that use of paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) during pregnancy may constitute a risk factor for autism spectrum traits. This is incorrect,” he said.

Dr Glennon said that a recent large scale study by both Swedish and US researchers in 186,000 people showed no link between paracetamol use by mothers and autistic traits in their children.

That study was funded by the US National Institute of Health in 2024.

“What makes this study convincing is that researchers examined registry data for 2.4 million Swedish-born children between 1995 and 2019. They then combined the prescription register and reports to midwives during pregnancy to study nearly 186,000 children whose mothers were treated with paracetamol.

“These children were compared with their own brothers and sisters in cases where the mother had not been treated with paracetamol when she was pregnant with them. They concluded that there was no evidence of a link between maternal paracetamol use and autistic traits,” Dr Glennon explained.

With reporting from Eimer McAuley

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