If you want to understand what is meant by Dunning -Kruger effect, Donald Trump and its secretary to human health and human services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. offer a manual case: the more reduced is the competence in a field, the more the illusion of having the right response is growing. At the same time, those who really know the matter recognizes its complexity and proceed with caution.

The United States, after all, never made the world miss the world: but it would have been better if the “gags” had remained in Hollywood instead of in the White House. The latest releases of President Trump and secretary Kennedy do not make people laugh: they represent an attack on science that ends up legitimizing superstitions and conspiracy theories.

Trump relaunches the theory on the link between paracetamol and autism in children

Trump and Kennedy claim to have found the key to solving complex issues such as vaccines, public health and research. In the meantime, however, the concrete consequences of misleading messages fall on collective health. The president’s policy appears disconnected by a speech based on the evidence and the last shot is that of having found the response to the increase in cases of autism.

The unjustified crusade against Paracetamolo (Tylenol)

The Trump administration, in contrast to the international medical consent, has suggested pregnant women to drastically limit the use of paracetamol (Tylenol), supporting an increased risk of autism in the unborn child. The Tylenol is the commercial name of Paracetamolo, the famous Tachipirina, a drug used mainly to reduce fever and pain. It acts on the central nervous system to relieve pain and lower the temperature, has no significant anti -inflammatory effects and is generally considered safe if taken at the recommended doses. An overdose, as with any drug, can cause severe hepatic damage.

What the studies mentioned by conspiracy theorists really say

Trump, almost as if to suggest that autism is a “disease to prevent” ignores not only scientific research but also the very definition of the autism spectrum disorder. One of the battle horses of conspiracy theorists is a research conducted with a “navigation guide” methodology that evaluates observational studies on the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy and neurosviluppo disorders (autism/ADHD). To an unless experienced reader may seem “the test” of a link; It is not. These are observational evidence, by definition subject to confuse: they do not establish causality and if anything, they suggest to do further research with more robust designs.

The Swedish study that resize the associations

On the contrary, a great Swedish study published in Jama in 2024 (2.48 million children followed up to 26 years) used the comparison between brothers: an approach that controls many shared genetic and environmental factors. Result: in the comparison between brothers, no association emerges between prenatal exposure to paracetamol and subsequent risk of autism, adhd or intellectual disability.

Brothers and sisters share 50% of their DNA on average grow in the same environment and are exposed to the same risk factors. Precisely because the basic factors are like this similar, one can expect the brother exposed to the drug during pregnancy to have a higher risk than his brother not exposed to developing autism or ADHD. Well, the study has shown that every association between the consumption of paracetamol and autism or adhd is not older in the brother where the mother, in pregnancy, has taken paracetamol.

In other words, the small differences seen in simpler models are plausibly due to non -measured family factors, not to the drug.

“Woman, you will give birth to pain!” (but it’s not a destiny)

The president’s words are also serious because paracetamol is one of the few recommended options in pregnancy to treat fever and pain. Leaving aside these symptoms can lead to significant risks for maternal and childish health: the untreated fever, for example, can increase the risk of spontaneous abortion, congenital defects and premature parts.

Limit access to a simple tool such as paracetamol does not reduce the risks: it moves them on potentially more dangerous conditions.

Throughout history, the most authoritarian governments have often tried to convince women that their well -being should go into the background compared to reproduction. As? Submitting their body and transforming it into a reliable procreation tool. Limiting access to simple tools such as paracetamol means encouraging policies that risk not only increased physical pain, but also to undermine the autonomy and dignity of the female body. The correct choice is always deciding with the doctor, on a case -by -case basis, using drugs appropriately.