Paracetamol is safe in pregnancy, says new evidence against Trump autism claims

Taking paracetamol during pregnancy is safe and there is no evidence it increases the risk of autism, ADHD and developmental problems in children, say experts behind a major new study.

Pregnant women “should feel reassured” by the results, they say, which contradict US President Donald Trump’s controversial claims last year that paracetamol “is no good” and pregnant women should “fight like hell” not to take it.

His views were criticized at the time by medical organizations around the world. Experts say this latest study, published in a Lancet journal, is rigorous and should end debate over its safety.

But U.S. health officials say “many experts” have expressed concerns about its use during pregnancy.

The US president shocked many doctors around the world when he and his administration claimed that paracetamol – known as acetaminophen in the US – which is considered the gold standard painkiller for pregnant women – could be linked to autism in children, if taken during pregnancy.

These claims have caused confusion among women and concern among health experts, and motivated this new research.

Published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynecology & Women’s Health, it reviewed 43 of the most robust studies on the use of paracetamol during pregnancy, involving hundreds of thousands of women, particularly those comparing pregnancies where the mother had taken the drug to pregnancies where she had not taken it.

The researchers say that using these high-quality studies on siblings means they can ignore other factors such as different genes and family environments, making their study a “gold standard”.

The research also looked at studies with a low risk of bias and those that followed children for more than five years to check for any links.

“When we did this analysis, we found no link, no association, no evidence that paracetamol increases the risk of autism,” lead study author and consultant obstetrician Professor Asma Khalil told the BBC.

“The message is clear: paracetamol remains a safe option during pregnancy when taken as directed,” she added.

This reinforces guidance from leading medical organizations in the UK, US and Europe on the safety of this common painkiller.

Any previously reported links between the drug and an increased risk of autism are likely explained by other factors, rather than a direct effect of paracetamol itself, the review says.

“This is important because paracetamol is the first-line medicine we recommend for pregnant women suffering or having a fever,” said Professor Khalil, professor of maternal fetal medicine at City St George’s, University of London.

Health advice warns that women may be at risk of harming their baby if they do not take paracetamol to lower the temperature or relieve pain during pregnancy. This can increase the risk of miscarriage, premature birth, or developmental problems in babies.

Medical experts not involved in the research welcomed the study’s findings, saying they would help reduce women’s concerns.

Professor Grainne McAlonnan, of King’s College London, said pregnant women “do not need to worry about whether the most commonly used headache medications could have considerable effects on their child’s health”.

“I hope the findings of this study will put an end to this matter,” she said.

Professor Ian Douglas, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said the analysis was “well done” because it excluded lower quality studies, in which no account was taken of important differences between mothers who do or do not use paracetamol during pregnancy, such as underlying illnesses.

According to Professor Jan Haavik, a molecular neuroscientist and clinical psychiatrist at the University of Bergen, the study provides “strong evidence” that paracetamol use during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability and “should effectively put this issue aside”.

It is widely accepted among scientists working in this field that autism is the result of a complex mix of factors, including genetic and environmental factors.

A spokesperson for the US Department of Health and Human Services said “many experts” had expressed concern about the use of acetaminophen – the US name for paracetamol – during pregnancy.

For example, an August 2025 study by Dr. Andrew Baccarelli, dean of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, found that acetaminophen use during pregnancy may increase the risk of autism and ADHD in children, and urged caution with “particularly intense or prolonged use.”

A few months earlier, Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr pledged to find out the cause of a sharp rise in reported cases of autism.

In a controversial speech in the Oval Office in September, the US president said doctors would be advised not to prescribe the painkiller to pregnant women.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) later issued a letter to clinicians urging them to be cautious about using acetaminophen during pregnancy, while asserting that it was still the only drug approved to treat fever during pregnancy.

On its website, the FDA states that “a causal relationship” between the drug and neurological disorders “has not been established.”

British health authorities have stressed that paracetamol remains the safest painkiller available for pregnant women.