Acetaminophen, also known as Tylenol or paracetamol, is among the most widely used painkillers. Like all other medicines, it should be taken under a physician’s care. But US President Donald Trump has said doctors in the country will soon be advised not to prescribe the pain reliever to pregnant women, linking the drug with autism. In a similar vein, the country’s Health Secretary, Robert F Kennedy Jr., had said that the FDA would also initiate the process of changing the safety label on the medication and launch a public health campaign to raise awareness. Medicines should, indeed, undergo review, and a section of scientists has cited rigorous studies to rule out the links between acetaminophen and autism. Another group of scientists has taken a somewhat more nuanced view on the causes of autism — they argue against singling out a medicine or a vaccine, and instead underline factors such as genetic predisposition and environmental exposure. The problem with the Trump-Kennedy approach is not just the refusal to engage with scientific knowledge. The US President and the Health Secretary seem to be playing on the legitimate anxieties of the American public over the growing cases of autism to target acetaminophen. Their focus on an unproven link could be a distraction in the fight against the developmental disorder.
The clampdown on acetaminophen is the latest in a series of measures that could dent the credibility of American science. Last month, the White House fired Susan Monarez, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), after she clashed with Kennedy over vaccine policy. Kennedy is a known vaccine sceptic, and his handling of the US measles crisis has received flak. Peter Marks, the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine official, resigned in March after accusing the US health secretary of spreading misinformation. The CDC has faced budget cuts, layoffs, resignations, and an array of questionable changes to protocols. The fund crunch in the premier US institution is impacting research on infectious diseases in other parts of the world. For instance, the world’s largest study on the safety of Covid vaccines, stewarded by the New Zealand-based Global Vaccine Data Centre, was terminated in April, a year shy of completion, because the cash-strapped CDC couldn’t afford to fund it. HIV research has been undermined because the Trump administration has paralysed the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Research, which funds not only treatment, but also millions of HIV tests every year that help scientists gauge the spread of the virus.
Public health experts are worried that Trump’s diatribe — “Don’t take Tylenol”, “Fight like hell not to take it” — and the FDA’s strictures on paracetamol could create confusion beyond the US and affect treatment of high fevers among pregnant women, a real and documented risk to foetal health. Trump and Kennedy may position their policies as “Making America Healthy Again”, but they are actually making the world more vulnerable.
