CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said Tuesday that medical guidance regarding acetaminophen use for pregnant women “is not going to change” despite President Trump linking it to autism development.
“I think the guidance ultimately, Pamela, is not going to change as a result of this,” Gupta told CNN’s Pamela Brown during The Situation Room. “I think most doctors have long said that treating a fever during pregnancy is important and that you should use the lowest dose for the shortest amount of time. That’s what these organizations have been saying for some time.”
Trump, during a press conference on Monday, advised women against taking acetaminophen during pregnancy due to a risk of prenatal autism development. Acetaminophen is the active ingredient in Tylenol, widely used for pain relief.
The president, flanked by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other top health officials, announced that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will update the label on acetaminophen and notify physicians that the medicine “can be associated with a very increased rate of autism.”
The White House cited multiple studies that it says link acetaminophen use during pregnancy to neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
It noted a review by Mount Sinai and Harvard researchers, funded by the National Institutes of Health and published Aug. 14, which found that 27 of 46 studies reported positive associations between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and the development of NDDs in offspring.
However, the review did not determine a causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and prenatal autism development.
The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) also released a statement Monday saying that, “despite assertions to the contrary, a thorough review of existing research suggesting a potential link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children has not established a causal relationship.”
A 2024 study conducted in Sweden, which Gupta referenced Tuesday, found that acetaminophen use during pregnancy was marginally associated with ASD and ADHD risk among children without sibling controls. In matched sibling pairs, though, the study found no increased risk of ASD or ADHD among pregnant women who used acetaminophen.
“Hopefully, it quells some of that shame that [mothers] may feel, because there was no association, cause and effect found there,” Gupta added.
He also noted that there is research showing that pregnant women using ibuprofen and aspirin, two other commonly-used pain medications, involves risk for prenatal development.
According to the National Library of Medicine (NLM), ibuprofen is not recommended after the 20th week of pregnancy. Some studies have shown that use of the medication at various stages of pregnancy can impact the fetal kidneys and the possibility of high blood pressure in the lungs, preterm delivery or low birth weight. The NLM report adds that it is unknown whether ibuprofen use in pregnancy affects behavioral or learning issues for the child.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) reaffirmed guidance on aspirin use during pregnancy in 2023, stating that, “daily low-dose aspirin use in pregnancy is considered safe and is associated with a low likelihood of serious maternal, or fetal complications, or both, related to use.” The report notes, though, that only women with a high risk of preeclampsia should use prophylactic low aspirin to prevent early pregancy loss, fetal growth restriction, stillbirth or early delivery.
