- Acetaminophen (Tylenol), also referred to as paracetamol, is an over-the-counter medication that is widely used to treat pain and fevers worldwide.
- However, in September 2025, the United States Government warned of a link between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism.
- Now, a wide ranging meta-analysis of high quality studies has found no evidence that taking paracetamol as directed during pregnancy increases the risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability in children.
- Experts from many countries agree that the findings should reassure pregnant individuals that, when used as directed, paracetamol is the safest painkiller for them to use during pregnancy.
Acetaminophen, or paracetamol, commonly sold under the brand name Tylenol in the United States — is a medication used worldwide for the treatment of pain and fevers.
In the United Kingdom alone, around 6,300 tonnes of paracetamol are sold each year, enough for 70 tablets per person annually.
And in the U.S., the Consumer Healthcare Products Association reports that 52 million adults (23% of all adults) take a medication containing acetaminophen every week.
No surprise, then, that the US Government statement in September 2025 that children born to people who used acetaminophen in pregnancy had an increased risk of autism and similar conditions caused widespread concern.
Now, an investigation by researchers in the U.K. and Europe, assessing a large number of studies, has found no evidence of a link between its use in pregnancy and
The researchers state that their findings, published in
“From an obstetric standpoint, this is a reassuring and methodologically strong study which essentially addressed major limitations of earlier work: biases towards existing genetics, family environment, and the underlying reasons paracetamol is used — such as infection, fever, or pain,“ Anand Singh, MD, a consultant gynecologist and obstetrician at the Cadogan Clinic in London, U.K., who was not involved in this review, told Medical News Today.
“The absence of an association between antenatal paracetamol exposure and autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, or intellectual disability across these high-quality analyses strongly suggests that previously reported links were not causal. This aligns with what many clinicians have observed in practice and with the conclusions of large national registry studies.”
– Anand Singh, MD
Team Health Accessible
Health & Wellness Editorial Team
HealthAccessible editorial team delivers trusted, accessible, and evidence-based health information for everyone.
