The European Union and British health agencies have confirmed the safety of paracetamol during pregnancy, challenging a warning from US President Donald Trump connecting popular pain drugs to autism.
The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that evidence of a link had remained incoherent and urged caution to draw conclusions.
Trump had linked autism on Monday to the use of infant vaccines and the Tylenol taking by pregnant women, raising complaints not supported by scientific evidence at the cutting edge of American health policy.
The European Medicines Agency said on Tuesday that there were no new evidence that would require changes to the current recommendations in the region for the use of paracetamol, known as Tylenol in the United States during pregnancy.
“The available evidence did not find any link between the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and autism,” said EMA in a press release, the addition of paracetamol could be used during pregnancy if necessary, but at the lowest effective dose and frequency. The British Health Regulator said on Monday that he was sure to use.
“The evidence remains incoherent,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic during a Geneva press briefing when he was questioned about a possible link between the use of paracetamol during pregnancy and autism.
He quoted unrecognized studies that highlighted a possible link, but said that this had not been confirmed by further research. “This lack of replicability really calls for caution to draw occasional conclusions,” he said.
At a very unusual press conference at the White House on Monday, Trump gave medical advice to pregnant women and parents of young children, telling them repeatedly not to use or administer the pain relievers and suggest that current vaccines are not taken together or so early in the life of a child.
Trump’s advice goes against that of medical societies, which have cited data from many studies showing that acetaminophen, active ingredient in Tylenol, plays a sure role in the well-being of pregnant women.
Invited to develop more on Trump’s remarks, Jasarevic added that vaccines have not caused autism and affirmed their vital qualities. “This is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned,” he added.
