Overview

• After Trump urged pregnant women to avoid paracetamol and questioned childhood vaccines, the WHO said no causal link has been established and reiterated that vaccines do not cause autism.
• The European Medicines Agency and the UK’s MHRA said paracetamol remains the analgesic of choice in pregnancy and reported no evidence that prenatal use causes autism.
• Scientists and medical societies condemned the White House statements as misleading and potentially harmful, warning they could deter appropriate fever treatment or disrupt immunization.
• Research remains mixed: some observational work reports associations, but large, more rigorous studies, including a 2024 JAMA sibling-controlled analysis, found no causal relationship.
• The Washington Post reported the FDA plans to update acetaminophen labeling and notify clinicians, while the administration advances funding, appointments, and limited treatment authorizations such as folinic acid.