Reactions to the Trump Administration's Claims About Tylenol, Vaccines and Autism

A spate of international health agencies, medical organizations, governments and other experts around the world have reacted with outrage and disbelief at the Trump administration's assertion this week that getting vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) and hepatitis B, and taking Tylenol during pregnancy could be linked to autism in children. 

Here’s a roundup of some of the reactions:

• The World Health Organization said that questioning the value of lifesaving vaccines was misguided. “We know that vaccines do not cause autism,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević said. “Vaccines [...] save countless lives. So this is something that science has proven, and these things should not be really questioned.”
• U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged the public not to “pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine.” In an interview with the broadcaster ITV he urged people instead to “listen to British doctors” and “British scientists.”
• The European Medicines Agency reaffirmed that paracetamol—the common painkiller known in the U.S. as Tylenol—remains safe for use during pregnancy when taken at the lowest effective dose, and that no credible evidence supports a causal link to autism.
• Health agencies in France, Germany, and Spain all issued separate statements, warning that spreading unfounded theories risks undermining confidence in both routine medications and immunizations.
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists affirmed that suggestions linking acetaminophen use in pregnancy to autism are “irresponsible” given the potential harm of confusing messages to patients.
• The Autism Science Foundation cautioned that remarks like the ones made by the Trump administration “risk stigmatizing families” while distracting from genuine research into autism’s complex causes. 
• The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said that it is still recommending acetaminophen an appropriate option to treat fever and pain during pregnancy. 

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