Experts at odds with Trump’s stance on autism
The Trump Administration have announced that the drug leucovorin (also known as folinic acid) will soon be available to treat symptoms of autism in children.
Leucovorin is generally used in cancer treatment, yet experts are skeptical of its effectiveness in treating autism.
Speaking alongside Robert F Kennedy Jr, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Donald Trump also claimed that there is a link between pregnant women taking paracetamol and children developing autism. He advised woman to “fight like hell” and avoid taking paracetamol during fever. This goes directly against medical advice, which states that taking paracetamol during fever can prevent complications for both pregnant women and unborn babies.
Despite some studies finding minor associations between pregnant woman and children developing autism, no causal link has been found. Conducted between 1995 and 2019, the largest study on this topic found that across 2.5 million Swedish children, 1.42% exposed to paracetamol developed autism, compared with 1.33% of children who were not exposed during pregnancy.