'Superstitious' Donald Trump wrong about Covid, aspirin and now autism too
A major review of dozens of scientific studies concludes taking paracetamol during pregnancy is not linked with autism
Donald Trump likes to think of himself as an expert in medical matters. Infamously, he suggested checking whether injecting disinfectant could be a treatment for Covid, saying “it knocks it out in a minute”, apparently not realising this could potentially lead to an extremely painful death.
The US President also takes aspirin at a daily dose well in excess of that usually recommended by doctors. “They'd rather have me take the smaller one," Trump said, but added he didn’t want to change his medication, saying: "I'm a little superstitious.”
So when, in September, Trump said there had been a “meteoric rise” in cases of autism, claimed the painkiller paracetamol, known as Tylenol in the US, was a potential cause, and suggested pregnant women should not take it, most sensible people ignored him.
However, not everyone is sensible so an international team of scientists decided to carry out a review of dozens of scientific studies on the matter. Professor Asma Khalil, a consultant obstetrician in London, bluntly explained their findings: “Paracetamol is safe to use in pregnancy.”
Surprise, surprise, the superstitious know-it-all was wrong. Who would’ve thunk it?
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