Featured Image Credit: Kevin Dietsch/Getty
Topics: Donald Trump, Health
Joe Yates
President Donald Trump has issued another explosive warning to pregnant women and parents, telling them to avoid one everyday drug 'unless absolutely necessary'.
Last month, Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made the bold claim that acetaminophen, which is present in Tylenol, could potentially be linked to an increase in autism, despite there being no evidence to suggest this.
In his press conference, the 79-year-old said that he thought pregnant women shouldn't be taking Tylenol, as he said: "I think you shouldn’t take it, and you shouldn’t take it during the entire pregnancy."
However, numerous health experts, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), have refuted the claim that acetaminophen can cause neurodivergent conditions, such as autism and ADHD.
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Before Trump's announcement on September 22, Tylenol's parent company, Kenvue, issued a statement denying the claims, as they said that 'sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism'.
They said in a statement: "Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of the people who use our products.
"We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with allegations that it does and are deeply concerned about the health risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents."
And now, the president has issued another warning, this time, advising pregnant women not to take Tylenol 'unless absolutely necessary'.
"Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON," he wrote on Truth Social yesterday (October 26).
But he didn't stop there; he went on to suggest that parents get their children vaccinated separately.
"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 5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS!" Trump continued, before signing off with 'President DJT'.
The president has also previously spoken about separate vaccines, especially mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR), claiming they should 'be taken separately' rather than a combined shot, as 'it seems when you mix them, there could be a problem'.
The supposed link between autism and MMR have shown there is no evidence that the two are linked, which first gained traction in 1998 after British doctor Andrew Wakefield's paper on 'autistic enterocolitis' that was later retracted by The Lancet, where it was first published, has since been debunked by multiple studies which show no evidence linking the two together (via the BBC).
Trump’s post also linked to a report accusing the FDA of staying 'silent' despite supposed internal warnings about Tylenol’s risks.
After Trump's initial claim about autism and Tylenol, several health experts, including Steven J. Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ACOG), have expressed concerns about how 'harmful' these claims could be.
Fleischman said the suggestion was not only 'highly concerning', but also 'irresponsible when considering the harmful and confusing message they send to pregnant patients'.