Study finds no link between maternal paracetamol and autism

A major new study has found no evidence that taking paracetamol, also known as acetaminophen, during pregnancy increases a child's risk of developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The research, published on June 29, 2026, in JAMA Internal Medicine, provides the most robust analysis to date on a subject of intense global debate and public concern.

An international team led by researchers from the University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with Professor Ian Chi-Kei Wong of Aston University, analyzed electronic medical records from 708,020 mother-child pairs in Hong Kong spanning from 2000 to 2023. To address a key criticism of prior studies, the researchers employed a sibling-matched design, comparing children from the same mother where one sibling was exposed to paracetamol during pregnancy and the other was not. This method helps account for shared genetic and environmental factors that could otherwise skew results.

The findings were definitive. The analysis revealed no statistically significant association between prenatal paracetamol exposure and an increased risk of either ASD or ADHD in offspring. This lack of association...