No, according to WHO. ACOG and AAP. No studies have shown that acetaminophen causes neurodevelopmental problems.
Health experts advocate for limiting the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy only when necessary, but some of the most encouraging data comes from a 2022 study in the 2024 JAMA Research Journal of the Journal of the JAMA, which examined 2.5 million Swedish children born between 1995 and 2019.
A Swedish study found a marginal statistical association between acetaminophen use and increased risk of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). However, the association disappeared when comparing siblings from the same family whose mother was not or did not take acetaminophen, Brian Lee, an epidemiologist at Drexel University’s Dawnsif School of Public Health, wrote an email to Live Science.
It is unlikely that acetaminophen will cause autism. Rather, there are other factors and confounding factors. Both are more likely to take painkillers during pregnancy and are more likely to have children with autism. “The association is not causal,” Lee said.
The most likely connection behind this is that people taking acetaminophen do this to treat medical conditions such as infection, fever, headaches and migraines, and “all of these factors are found to be linked to the risk of autism in children,” Lee said.
Furthermore, scientists know that there is a major genetic component in autism, and women with genes that increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders tend to report pregnancy pain and the use of acetaminophen. The same genetic risk of neurodevelopmental disorders is passed down to children, Lee added.
Nevertheless, on September 22, the US Food and Drug Administration issued a physician notification and announced it would begin changing the safety label for acetaminophen, while the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it would launch a public service campaign.
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