THE PRESIDENT PLAYS DOCTOR

In a recent press conference, President Donald Trump repeatedly claimed without new or compelling evidence that acetaminophen use in pregnancy is driving the rise in autism—and then ad-libbed his own guidance on childhood vaccines.

- BY DR. CRAIG SPENCER

It reminded me of the early days of the pandemic, when Trump suggested that injecting disinfectant might treat COVID-19. To me, though, this was far worse. The falsehoods he rattled off might not be obvious to most Americans; Trump misrepresented evidence on autism, distorted vaccine research, and offered a grab bag of unscientific medical opinions. With a phrase he repeated many times during the event— "Don't take Tylenol"—he sowed confusion and fear among families without new evidence or information.

As a physician, I know how this plays out in the emergency room. A pregnant patient with a fever—which itself carries risks for both the mother and the fetus—may now think twice before taking acetaminophen, the one medication consistently recommended as safe for fever during pregnancy. As a father of two young kids, I know the weight of deciding which medicines and vaccines to give them, and the trust it requires in both the science and the system. The President just made those decisions harder and far more dangerous.