The Lancet Study Finds Paracetamol Use During Pregnancy Does Not Increase Autism Risk

A study published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Women’s Health concludes that paracetamol use during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism, and the work is described as a metaanalysis of 43 investigations led by City St George’s of the University of London.

“NEW YORK — The United States has officially completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, one year after the announcement by President Donald Trump that ended a 78-year commitment, federal officials said Thursday”

- Rezo Nòdwès

The article says the review compiled 43 high-quality studies using rigorous research methods and included comparisons between siblings, and it quotes Asma Khalil, professor of Obstetrics and Maternal-Fetal Medicine at City St George’s and director of the study, saying, “El paracetamol sigue siendo una opción segura durante el embarazo cuando se toma según las indicaciones.”

- Rezo Nòdwès

It also reports that the study found no relationship between paracetamol consumption during gestation and autism, TDAH, or disability intellectual, and it provides sibling-comparison sample sizes of 262 mil 852 children evaluated for autism, 335 mil 255 for TDAH, and 406 mil 681 for disability intellectual.

The same source frames earlier concerns as tied to a September 2025 suggestion by the government of Donald Trump that paracetamol could interfere with children’s neurological development and cause autism, and it says the authors argue those claims relied on biased earlier reports that omitted factors like the condition of siblings and family history.

The review’s authors say associations previously suggested between prenatal paracetamol and autism, TDAH, or intellectual disabilities could be explained by other maternal factors such as fever or underlying pain rather than a direct effect of the drug, and the article adds that paracetamol is also known as acetaminofén.

In the United States, Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) and related actions are described by Le Monde as raising “grave threats to scientific progress and cooperation,” citing the freezing of budgets of major American public health and research institutions and the suspension of development-assistance programs of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Le Monde also quotes Peter Agre, Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2003, saying, “essential not only for scientific progress, but also for the future of humanity,” and it frames international collaboration as yielding results in acquiring new knowledge and improving public health.

CNN

The Académie des sciences press release says that since Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20, he has taken decisions that will strongly and negatively impact scientific research in the United States with consequences worldwide through international collaborations that are also targeted.

That same press release states the United States threatens to withdraw from the WHO and abruptly cuts funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), while it also describes federal budget cuts, layoffs of researchers and civil servants, and the elimination of key programs.

In a separate report, The Conversation says the answer to whether withdrawal could have significant consequences is yes, and it argues that the withdrawal could affect WHO guidelines and strategies that contributed to U.S. national policies on issues including maternal-child health.

CNN reports that the Trump administration issued a directive stopping individuals at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) from communicating with the WHO, effectively shutting some US officials out of global discussions on virus outbreaks.

“Key officials responsible for leading US research on infectious disease threats have been barred from speaking directly with the World Health Organization — effectively shutting some of them out of the global discussions on virus outbreaks, according to documents and multiple sources who spoke to CNN”

CNN

CNN says the restrictions were in place during an outbreak of hantavirus that some Americans have been exposed to, and it adds that communication limits were relaxed slightly as an Ebola epidemic centered in the Democratic Republic of Congo intensified.

The CNN report includes an email dated May 18 from a senior NIAID official to staff, stating, “We’ll be operating in the same manner for Ebola as we have been doing for Hantavirus, assembling a small groups of experts — no more than three — to participate,” and it says any follow-up would be handled by the Department of Health and Human Services.

CNN also describes a broader retreat from participation in global health forums, saying the US withdrew from WHO in January at President Donald Trump’s direction, and it notes that the directive comes as many US health agencies are operating with interim heads.

In the same CNN piece, Dr. Dan Jernigan, a former CDC official, is quoted saying, “Not in my 31 years at CDC” has there been a moment like this, as it describes a leadership vacuum with vacant roles including the director of the infectious disease agency and the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.