Acetaminophen during pregnancy not linked to autism, ADHD, intellectual disability: study 

A new study suggested that the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy is not linked to an increased risk of autism, ADHD or intellectual disability among children.

The new study published in the JAMA Network on Tuesday analyzed the data of more than 2.4 million children born in Sweden from 1995 to 2019 with a follow-up through December 2021. The researchers ultimately concluded that there was no link between the developmental disorders and acetaminophen and suggested that the disorders may be associated with other causes.

The researcher said that the crude absolute risks at 10 years of age for those not exposed to acetaminophen compared to those exposed to acetaminophen were 1.33 percent versus 1.53 percent for autism, 2.46 percent versus 2.87 percent for ADHD and 0.70 percent versus 0.82 percent for intellectual disability.

After an initial analysis showed a small increased risk of autism, ADHD and intellectual disability among children whose mothers took acetaminophen during pregnancy, the researchers conducted a second study that looked at sibling pairs.

The sibling control analysis — which looked at mothers who took acetaminophen during one pregnancy and not the other — found that there was no link between the developmental disorders and acetaminophen.

The study found that any link between acetaminophen and the disorders was a “noncausal association.”

"Results suggested that there was not one single ‘smoking gun’ confounder, but rather that multiple birthing parents’ health and sociodemographic characteristics each explained at least part of the apparent association,” the study stated.