UK health secretary rejects Trump's claim linking paracetamol in pregnancy to autism

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The British health secretary on Tuesday rejected the US president's claim linking paracetamol in pregnancy to autism, saying he "trusts doctors over President Trump on this."

"Don’t pay any attention whatsoever to what Donald Trump says about medicine," Wes Streeting told ITV in response to Trump's statement on Monday claiming that taking Tylenol, known as paracetamol elsewhere, "is no good" and that pregnant women should "fight like hell" to only take it in cases of extreme circumstances.

The health secretary said there is no evidence to link the use of paracetamol by pregnant women to autism in their children. "I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this," he added.

Citing a study conducted last year in Sweden, Streeting said it involved 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," he said. "In fact, don’t even take my word for it, as a politician – listen to British doctors, British scientists, the NHS."