"Trump alleged that Tylenol, aka acetaminophen, is linked to autism, and that pregnant women taking the common painkiller increases the likelihood of their children being autistic. Trump had no scientific evidence to back up his claim, nor the support of the broader medical community-and yet, his critique of Tylenol had an impact on America's emergency rooms nearly overnight."
"A new study in The Lancet shows that between Trump's speech on September 22 and the end of the study period on December 7, acetaminophen orders for pregnant patients ages 15 to 44 in emergency rooms declined by 10%. Meanwhile, orders for non-pregnant women in the same age range did not see any significant change."
"This is thousands of women not getting pain control or not getting fever reduction when they need it, when they want it, when they would benefit from it," he said. Whether the drop in Tylenol orders was due to patients refusing the drug or doctors choosing not to prescribe it is unclear."
In September, President Trump made unsubstantiated claims at a White House press conference that Tylenol (acetaminophen) causes autism in children of pregnant women who take it. No scientific evidence supports this claim, and the medical community does not endorse it. A study published in The Lancet documented that between Trump's September 22 speech and December 7, acetaminophen orders for pregnant patients aged 15 to 44 in emergency rooms declined by 10%, while orders for non-pregnant women remained unchanged. This reduction meant thousands of pregnant women were denied access to pain control and fever reduction when medically needed. The study could not determine whether patients refused the medication or doctors avoided prescribing it, and findings were limited to emergency departments only.
#misinformation-and-public-health #acetaminophen-and-pregnancy #medical-decision-making #emergency-department-prescribing-patterns
Read at Fast Company
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]