Donald Trump has doubled down on his advice to expectant mothers not to take Tylenol.
In a Truth Social post, the president said: ‘Pregnant women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.
‘DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON.’
Some studies have shown an association between taking acetaminophen, the active drug in Tylenol, during pregnancy and autism in children.
But experts stress that an association does not directly prove that acetaminophen causes autism. They also highlight other large-scale research that has found no link between taking Tylenol during pregnancy and autism.
President Trump also gave other medical advice in the post, writing: ‘BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS [sic] B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN FIVE SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS! President DJT.’
His latest statement follows a press conference on Monday where the commander-in-chief first urged pregnant women not to take Tylenol, or acetaminophen.
During the week, officials in the administration, including the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr Mehmet Oz, and vice president JD Vance, gave more nuanced statements, saying that pregnant women should consult their doctor before taking Tylenol.
Donald Trump is pictured at the press conference on Monday, where he told pregnant women not to take Tylenol, or acetaminophen
During a press conference on Monday, President Trump told pregnant women, ‘don’t take Tylenol’, before adding, ‘fight like hell not to take it’.
The president and his health officials frequently cited a new study as the reason for their warnings.
The paper, from Mount Sinai and Harvard researchers, analyzed data from 46 previous studies and found that there was an association between taking acetaminophen during pregnancy and higher rates of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism in their children.
But there are also numerous papers showing no association between the two, including a 2024 study by Swedish researchers on 2.4million children that found no link between taking acetaminophen in pregnancy and a higher risk of autism.
Acetaminophen is used during pregnancy to bring down high fevers or reduce pain, which may also pose a risk, with studies showing expectant mothers struggling with high fevers are more likely to have babies with birth defects.
Dr Jeff Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in the Department of Health Policy Studies, told Daily Mail: ‘This is an issue, and it is being looked at by academic and clinical researchers around the world. It is not an unreasonable question to ask, “Does acetaminophen cause autism?”.
‘But what I am asking is that they leave the question to the scientists, to the clinical researchers, and stay out of it. We are on it, and we are already taking care of it.’
On Tuesday, Dr Oz, who was also at the press conference on Monday, said in an interview with TMZ that pregnant women should take Tylenol if they have a high fever.
‘If you have a high fever… you ought to be talking to a doctor anyway,’ he said.
‘The doctor’s almost certainly going to prescribe you something. Tylenol might be one of the things they give.’
In an interview with CBS News on Thursday, Dr Oz said, ‘categorically, no’, when asked whether pregnant women should never take Tylenol under any circumstances.
He added: ‘The concern here is that I believe most women get low-grade fevers, they stub their toe, they have little aches and pains, and they think it’s perfectly safe to throw a couple paracetamol or acetaminophen or Tylenol when they’re pregnant, and I don’t think that’s the case.’
Vance said in an interview with NewsNation on Wednesday: ‘So, my guidance to pregnant women would be very simple, which is: Follow your doctor.
He added that ‘ultimately, whether you should take something is very context-specific’ and should be considered ‘case by case’.
A spokeswoman for Kenvue, which manufactures Tylenol, said: ‘Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy.
‘The facts are that over a decade of rigorous research, endorsed by leading medical professionals and global health regulators, confirms there is no credible evidence linking acetaminophen to autism.
Dr Mehmet Oz, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is pictured above at the press conference on Monday
‘We stand with the many public health and medical professionals who have reviewed this science and agree.’
About one in 2,000 children were diagnosed with autism in the 1980s in the US, estimates suggest, but today the rate is one in 31.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects how a person communicates, interacts with others, and experiences the world.
In the 1970s, it was strictly defined, with the only people diagnosed with the condition being those who had severe communication difficulties, often struggling to speak or interact with others.
But experts say that over recent decades, the definition of the condition has been massively expanded to include milder symptoms, while Americans have also become more accepting of people with autism.
At the press conference on Monday, President Trump also urged parents to get the measles, mumps and rubella jabs, normally delivered as a three-in-one vaccine, separately, and told parents to get the varicella, or chickenpox vaccine, separately, which can be given with the MMR shot.
He also urged parents not to get their children the Hepatitis B vaccine until they are 12 years old.
The CDC’s Robert F Kennedy Junior-selected vaccines advisory panel voted on Thursday last week for the agency to no longer recommend the first dose of the MMR and varicella vaccines be given in the same shot.
Instead, it said that the MMR and varicella vaccines should be administered separately to children aged four years and under.
Just before the announcement, the CDC was already recommending that the first shot of the MMR and varicella should be administered separately unless a parent requests the combined version.
This was based on a higher risk of adverse reactions when using the combined shot as a first dose, with studies showing it is linked to a slightly higher risk of febrile seizures compared to administering both shots separately on the same doctors visit.
The vaccines against measles, mumps and rubella have been given as a combined dose in the US since 1971, after it was approved by the FDA.
The CDC says online that there is no published scientific evidence that shows any benefit from separating the MMR vaccine into three separate shots.
Administering the vaccines as a single dose ensures children get protection from the diseases faster, they said, and means fewer doctors visits, saving parents time and money and making vaccinations less traumatic for the child.
It is not clear whether it is even possible to get a separate measles, mumps and then rubella shot in the US, with the vaccines approved as a combined dose.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .