Health minister hits out at Trump’s paracetamol and autism claim

A health minister has hit out at President Trump for making unproven claims about a link between paracetamol use and autumn.

Scottish Labour MP Zubir Ahmed, who was a surgeon before being elected last year, has said the painkiller was the safest one to use in pregnancy.

Trump claimed on Monday that taking Tylenol (a US brand of paracetamol) “is no good” for pregnant women and advice to doctors in the US would soon change to advise against its use.

There is no scientific evidence to support this claim.

Ahmed, who was made the minister for patient safety in Keir Starmer’s reshuffle earlier this month, wrote on X: “For the avoidance of any doubt, paracetamol remains the safest painkiller to take during pregnancy.”

And health secretary Wes Streeting said: “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this.”

The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has issued a statement saying there is “no evidence” of a link between taking paracetamol during pregnancy and autism in children.

Dr Alison Cave, chief safety officer, said: “Patient safety is our top priority. There is no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children… Our advice on medicines in pregnancy is based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence.  Any new evidence that could affect our recommendations would be carefully evaluated by our independent scientific experts.”

Autism diagnosis has risen sharply over the last two decades, but scientists attribute this to increase awareness of the condition and an expanding definition.

The National Autistic Society has dubbed Trump’s claims “dangerous”, “anti-science” and “irresponsible”.

Mel Merritt, head of policy and campaigns, said: “Let's be clear – painkillers do not cause autism and vaccines do not cause autism. Large-scale studies have shown that there is no robust, scientific evidence to support this claim. It’s nothing more than fearmongering. 

“The incessant misinformation about autism from President Trump and [US health secretary] Robert F Kennedy Jr risks undermining decades of research by respected experts in the field.”

Kennedy has long been an advocate of various health conspiracies, including the anti-vaccination movement.