Wes Streeting has urged Britons to ‘listen to the NHS… not Donald Trump‘ after the US President linked taking paracetamol during pregnancy to soaring diagnosis rates of autism and ADHD.
Speaking on today’s episode of Lorraine, the Health Secretary, 42, shared the Government’s stance on 79-year-old Trump’s claims that one of the potential causes of the surge in people with neurodivergent conditions is being exposed to the everyday painkiller while in the womb.
Mr Streeting said: ‘A major study was done back in 2024 in Sweden, involving 2.4 million children, and it did not uphold those claims.
‘So I would just say to people watching, don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine.
‘In fact, don’t take even take my word for it, as a politician—listen to British doctors, British scientists, the NHS.
‘It’s really important that a time when you know there is scepticism—and I don’t think scepticism itself, asking questions is in itself a bad thing, by all means, ask questions – but we’ve got to follow medical science.’
Paracetamol—known as acetaminophen and often sold under the brand name Tylenol in the US—is widely used by expectant mothers to treat pain, headaches and fever.
The drug is currently recommended by the NHS as the ‘first choice’ painkiller for expectant mothers, but only for short periods and at the lowest effective dose.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting urged Britons to listen to the NHS, not Donald Trump
Around half of pregnant women in the UK take paracetamol, and in the US the figure rises to around 65 per cent.
Health chiefs advise that only certain people — such as those with liver or kidney disease or taking epilepsy medication — need to exercise extra caution.
Dozens of studies have already linked paracetamol to higher rates of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the findings have not often been consistent.
Experts from the MHRA—the UK’s medicine regulation body—also issued a formal statement dismissing the link, and reiterated that all advice issued by them is ‘based on rigorous assessment of the best available scientific evidence….We continuously monitor the safety of all medicines, including those used during pregnancy, through robust monitoring and surveillance.’
Dr Alison Cave, Chief Safety Officer at the MHRA, said that patient safety is the MHRA’s top priority.
She said: ‘There is no evidence that taking paracetamol during pregnancy causes autism in children.
‘Untreated pain and fever can pose risks to the unborn baby, so it is important to manage these symptoms with the recommended treatment.’
Yesterday, medical experts from across the globe insisted there is no proven link between the drug and neurodevelopmental disorder, arguing the announcement is merely ‘fear mongering’ and ‘risks stigmatising families’.
Donald Trump’s claims have caused ‘fear mongering’ and ‘stigmatism’ according to one expert
Dr Monique Botha, an associate professor in social and developmental psychology at Durham University, said: ‘There is no robust evidence or convincing studies to suggest there is any causal relationship and any conclusions being drawn to the contrary are often motivated, under-evidenced, and unsupported by the most robust methods to answering this question.
‘I am exceptionally confident in saying that no relationship exists.
‘Pain relief for pregnant women is woefully lacking and paracetamol is a much safer pain relief option during pregnancy than basically any other alternative and we need to take pain seriously for women including whilst pregnant.
‘The fear mongering will prevent women from accessing the appropriate care during pregnancy.
‘It also risks stigmatising families who have autistic children as having brought it on themselves.
‘It reinvigorates the long pattern of maternal shame and blame we’ve seen re-emerge repeatedly over the last 70 years, where we try to pay the fault of autism at the mother’s door one way or another.’
Dr Hannah Kirk, a senior lecturer in developmental psychology at Monash University, added: ‘No study has shown that paracetamol causes autism.
‘Some studies have reported an association between paracetamol use and autism, while others have not. Importantly, association does not mean causation.
President Trump revealed he would be making an announcement about autism during a detour in his speech at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona on September 21 (pictured)
Dozens of studies have already linked it to higher rates of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the findings have not often been consistent
‘A recent large-scale study, which analysed data from 2.48 million births, found that when researchers compared siblings—a method to control for genetic and environmental factors—any apparent links between paracetamol and autism disappeared.
‘This suggests that other factors such as genetic or underlying maternal health conditions may better explain the findings.
‘It’s also worth noting that fever itself has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes.
‘In many cases treating a fever with paracetamol may reduce those risks.
‘Pregnant people should continue to follow the advice of their healthcare providers when managing pain and fever.’
Professor Stephen Griffin, an infectious disease expert at the University of Leeds, meanwhile said the argument that paracetamol ’causes’ autism ‘lays the blame firmly at the parent’s door. Just unbelievably cruel’.
He added: ‘It’s a complex, polygenic, largely unpredictable syndrome. Fact.’
Professor Dimitrios Siassakos, an expert in obstetrics and gynaecology at University College London also argued: ‘Undue focus on paracetamol would risk preventing families from using one of the safest medications to use in pregnancy when needed.’
President Trump revealed he would be making an announcement about autism during a detour in his speech at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service on Sunday.
‘I think you’re going to find it to be amazing. I think we found an answer to autism,’ he added.
Trump added that his administration ‘won’t let it happen anymore.’
But reports today claim the President Trump will formally make the link following a federal review into what is driving rising rates of autism across the country. The review was launched by US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, pictured during Charlie Kirk’s memorial service in Arizona on September 21
‘I think it’s going to be one of the most important news conferences I’ll ever have, and I look so forward to it,’ he said.
It comes as US researchers from Mount Sinai and Harvard’s School of Public Health, last month, suggested that pregnant women should only take paracetamol on the advice of a doctor amid autism fears.
The scientists said their analysis of more than 100,000 people was the most comprehensive yet—and provided the ‘strongest evidence so far’ of a link.
They urged mothers-to-be to use paracetamol sparingly, recommending only ‘the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible time.’
However, the team stressed the findings do not prove the drug directly causes neurodevelopmental disorders—only that the association is consistent and worrying enough to demand further investigation.
Dr Diddier Prada, assistant professor of population health science at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and co-author of the study, said: ‘Given the widespread use of this medication, even a small increase in risk could have major public health implications.
‘Pregnant women should not stop taking medication without consulting their doctors. Untreated pain or fever can also harm the baby.
‘Our study highlights the importance of discussing the safest approach with health care providers and considering non-drug options whenever possible.’
Paracetamol is currently recommended by the NHS as the ‘first choice’ painkiller for expectant mothers, but only for short periods and at the lowest effective dose.
Around half of pregnant women in the UK take paracetamol, and in the US the figure rises to around 65 per cent.
Health chiefs advise that only certain people — such as those with liver or kidney disease or taking epilepsy medication — need to exercise extra caution.
NHS figures show almost 130,000 under-18s in England were waiting for an assessment in December 2024.
Experts have described it as an ‘invisible crisis’, with services repeatedly failing to keep pace with rising demand.
Last year, the Children’s Commissioner warned that children left languishing for years on waiting lists were effectively being ‘robbed’ of their childhoods.
Autism is not a disease and is present from birth, although it may not be recognised until childhood or even much later in life.
It exists on a spectrum: while some people can live independently with little support, others may need full-time care.
