New study suggests Trump's unproven autism claims influenced emergency care

Last year US President Donald Trump told pregnant women not to take Tylenol as he promoted unproven ties between the fever reducer and autism and touted an old generic drug as a treatment for the developmental conditionFor nearly three months after that new research found Tylenol orders for pregnant women showing up in emergency rooms dropped and prescriptions of the generic drug for children rose This happened despite sharp criticism of the presidents message from doctor groups saying that the drug leucovorin shouldnt be broadly used for autism and Tylenol is safe during pregnancyIt just shows that in our country right now health care has been politicised in a way that political messages are driving and impacting care and not always for good said Dr Susan Sirota a paediatrician in Highland Park Illinois who wasnt involved with the researchDoctors who published their work Thursday in The Lancet looked at changes in drug ordering or prescribing compared with projected trends or what might have happened if things had continued on the same path as before the White House briefingThey found that orders for Tylenol acirciquestiquest also known by the generic names acetaminophen and paracetamol acirciquestiquest were 10 per cent lower than predicted for pregnant emergency department patients aged 15 to 44 And outpatient prescriptions of leucovorin for children aged 5 to 17 were 71 per cent higher than expected during the same study period late September to early DecemberResearchers observed no similar shifts in comparable medications suggesting the changes were directly tied to the briefingThe research had limitations For example it didnt capture all Tylenol use by pregnant women because most people buy the painkiller over the counter outside of a hospital settingStill it reflected how an unconventional news conference by a political leader could change not just patient behaviour but prescribing as well said coauthor Dr Michael BarnettIn past administrations there are lots of layers of approval and expert consensus before officials make big announcements about medical topics said Barnett who is with Brown University School of Public HealthPregnant women generally take Tylenol for pain or fever Untreated fevers in pregnancy particularly in the first trimester increase the risk for miscarriages preterm birth and other problems according to the Society for MaternalFetal Medicine Some studies have raised the possibility that taking Tylenol in pregnancy might be associated with a risk of autism but many others havent found a connectionLeucovorin is a derivative of folic acid used for among other things reducing the toxic side effects of certain chemotherapy drugs and treating a rare blood disorder It has also been studied for a neurological condition known as cerebral folate deficiency and for a subset of autistic children according to the American Academy of PaediatricsThe paediatrics group doesnt recommend routine use of the drug for autistic children Early smallscale studies have explored its use and some findings suggest potential benefit in carefully selected cases the group saidBut evidence remains limited the paediatrician group said And in late January the European Journal of Pediatrics retracted a study evaluating leucovorin as an autism treatmentStill after the federal announcement about the drug Sirota said some families in her practice asked about getting it for their autistic children She educated them about the evidence told them about the potential for side effects and didnt prescribe it Potential side effects include irritability nausea and vomiting and skin issues like dermatitisSirota said it has been hard to deal with the repercussions of government pronouncements like the ones on autismIt feels like a pattern with our government right They keep building on these houses of cards that just fall down she said This politicising of medicine just in general and moving away from science has been so challengingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever