Due to the unproven connection between Tylenol and autism, US President Donald Trump has urged pregnant women to avoid the brand name for the painkiller.
Trump issued the warning on Monday as the US drug regulator announced plans to label paracetamol informing children of an increased risk of autism and ADHD.
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Don’t take Tylenol, please. Trump remarked as he “don’t take it,” while addressing a crowd of top public health officials at a press conference at the White House.
Trump remarked, “Fight like hell not to take it.”
There might come a point where you’ll have to work out with yourself.
Trump also questioned the medical consensus regarding childhood vaccines, suggesting that measles, mumps, and rubella vaccinations should be done separately from the combined MMR shot.
Based on what I feel, this. Trump argued that the three diseases should be treated separately, including measles and the mumps.
“And it seems like there could be a problem when you mix them,” he continues.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG), which have long recommended paracetamol as one of the few painkillers that women can take while pregnant, were among the medical organizations that condemned Trump’s comments.
Paracetamol, which is sold under brand names Dyman, Panadol, and Panamax in various countries, is thought to help about half of pregnant women worldwide who are taking it for pain relief and to lower fevers, which are potentially dangerous for both the expectant mother and the foetus.
Steven J. Fleischman, president of ACOG, described the claims that paracetamol may have a connection to autism as “irresponsible.”
It’s crucial to take into account all potential risks as well as any benefits when weighing the use of medication during pregnancy, Fleischman said in a statement.
According to Fleischman, who also uses the name paracetamol in the US, “the results of numerous studies have demonstrated that acetaminophen plays an important – and safe – role in the well-being of pregnant women.”
Medical experts have urged that more robust studies have concluded that there is no link between paracetamol and neurological conditions like autism and that causality is still a mystery because some research has found that.
When comparing children who had been exposed to the painkiller with their siblings who had not, one of the largest population-based studies, which was published last year in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found no link.
The Trump administration’s actions were “hugely negative” for public health, according to bioethicist Arthur Caplan of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Caplan told Al Jazeera, “The big reveal about autism was a total bust full of misinformation, a lack of evidence, bad advice, and a fictitious explanation about the cause.”
Caplan remarked, “I believe mainstream medicine will disregard what he said today.”
“Patients must turn to other reputable sources because they can’t trust federal science in the USA,” says Dr. Lewis.
Studies showing a link between paracetamol use and autism, according to Catherine Lord, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA with a special interest in autism, were constrained by the presence of confounding factors that are challenging to control for.
According to Lord, “I believe the medical community will be sincere in their assertion that Tylenol during pregnancy does not cause autism, but that pregnant women should always be wary of taking it,”
They should consult their doctor because having a high fever or feeling pain is neither good for a growing baby either.
The US Food and Drug Administration cited evidence of a “correlation” between paracetamol use and autism in its updated guidelines released on Monday, as well as research that suggested a higher risk is associated with taking the drug “chronically” throughout pregnancy.
The drug regulator, however, was noticeably less vocal than Trump, pointing out that “contrary studies in the scientific literature exist and that a causal relationship has yet to be established.
The regulator used the other generic name for paracetamol to refer to the fact that acetaminophen is the only over-the-counter medication permitted to treat fevers during pregnancy.
Source: Aljazeera
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