US president Donald Trump’s comments about paracetamol during pregnancy are “not responsible”, Scotland’s First Minister has said.
Mr Trump said this week there had been a “meteoric rise” in cases of autism, which he linked to use of Tylenol – known as paracetamol in the UK – during pregnancy.
The comments have been heavily criticised, with the Scottish Government’s top pharmacist forced to issue a statement on Tuesday saying the drug was safe for use.
Speaking to the PA news agency on Wednesday, First Minister John Swinney said: “I don’t think these are responsible remarks to be making, because paracetamol, on the clinical advice available to me, is a safe drug for women to take when pregnant.”
He added: “I think it’s important that politicians take clear clinical advice about issues in relation to the safety of drugs and the clinical advice available to me is that paracetamol is a safe drug for pregnant women to utilise.
“I therefore disagree with what President Trump has said and I would encourage anybody in Scotland worried about this to follow the clinical advice of clinicians in Scotland.”
The First Minister, however, was much more critical of comments from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on Wednesday, who said he had “no idea” whether the US president was correct and raised the drug thalidomide, which caused severe birth defects.
“This is just recklessness,” the First Minister said when asked about Mr Farage’s comments.
The prospect of advice such as that put out by the US Government has increased in recent months since the IS president’s decision to appoint Robert Kennedy Jr – who has long touted vaccines as the cause of autism.
Asked if long-running medical interventions could be the subject of debate with Mr Kennedy in post, the First Minister said: “I think there’s a great worry about some of the implications of this rhetoric to the debate about drug or vaccine safety.
“In my lifetime, some significant public health improvements have been made because of vaccination programmes that have essentially eliminated significant conditions that were very damaging to individuals.”
If there is a fall in vaccination rates, the First Minister warned “we will undoubtedly have much more serious health implications in our population”.
