The New York Times (1/16, Ghorayshi) reports that a “scientific review of 43 studies on acetaminophen use during pregnancy concluded that there was no evidence that the painkiller increased the risk of autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders.” Prior studies “have examined a possible link between acetaminophen in pregnancy and a risk of neurodevelopmental disorders have produced conflicting data, with some finding no connection and others finding small increases in risk.” However, Dr. Asma Khalil, a professor of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine at St. George’s Hospital, University of London, and the lead author of the review published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health, said, “We found no clinically important increase in the risk of autism, A.D.H.D. or intellectual disability.” Khalil reiterated that acetaminophen remains “the first-line treatment that we would recommend if the pregnant women have pain or fever in pregnancy.”
The AP (1/16, Ungar) reported the research review “looked at 43 studies and concluded that the most rigorous ones, such as those that compare siblings, provide strong evidence that taking the drug…does not cause autism, ADHD or intellectual disabilities.”
NBC News (1/16, Bendix) added that the “authors said they undertook the research, in part, to clear up confusion after” the President and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “announced in September that women should avoid Tylenol during pregnancy due to what they described as a link to autism.”
Also reporting were Reuters (1/17, Rigby), CNN (1/16, Howard), and MedPage Today (1/16, George).
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