Stop Listening to Dumb Politicians: Paracetamol Doesn’t Cause Autism, Sunscreen Doesn’t Kill You, and Raw Milk is Just Gross
Alright, Australia, let’s get one thing straight. Just because someone has a fancy title or a reality TV past does not mean they know anything about medicine. I’m looking at you, Donald Trump. Recently, the U.S. President decided to jump into the health misinformation ring and claimed that paracetamol, yes the same Panadol you grab for a headache or pregnancy fever, causes autism.
Yes, you read that correctly. In 2025, a man who once suggested injecting disinfectant as a COVID cure thought he was qualified to lecture the world on prenatal medicine. Spoiler alert: He is not.
The Claim: Paracetamol and Autism
Let’s unpack this. Trump, alongside Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr Mehmet Oz, claimed that the rising rates of autism are because pregnant women are taking paracetamol. They even tried to cherry-pick evidence from populations like the Amish and Cubans who supposedly use less paracetamol.
Here is the reality. There is no credible scientific evidence linking paracetamol to autism. None. Zero. Zilch. A large-scale study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 2024, involving over 2.4 million Swedish children, found no association between paracetamol use during pregnancy and autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability. The study’s sibling control analysis, which accounts for genetic and environmental factors, further confirmed these findings (1).
In Australia, health experts have also refuted Trump’s claims. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) affirm that paracetamol is safe for use during pregnancy when taken as directed. They caution that avoiding paracetamol could lead to unmanaged fever, which poses known complications during pregnancy.
Congratulations, Mr Trump, you have managed to make a safe, life-saving medication sound like poison.
The Real Dangers: Misinformation is a Virus
This is not just about Panadol. The real problem is how misinformation spreads. When influential figures make baseless claims, it can confuse the public and scare people away from treatments that are proven to work. This is not a joke. Pregnant women, parents, and vulnerable people can suffer when fear trumps facts.
It also perpetuates the harmful myth that parents of autistic children somehow caused their child’s autism. Autism is not the result of a casual medicine mistake. It is complex, genetic, environmental, but definitely not a simple pill. By blaming medications, these politicians add guilt to grief for families who already face enough challenges.
A Pattern of Ignorance: Trump, Oz, and the Fringe Circus
Let’s be honest. This is classic Trump. Remember when he suggested injecting bleach to cure COVID? Or when he openly denied science about climate change, masks, and vaccines? The man’s relationship with reality is complicated at best.
Then there is Dr Mehmet Oz, who has a history of touting miracle cures with little to no scientific backing. And RFK Jr. has spent decades spreading anti-vaccine conspiracies. Together, they form a trifecta of trust us, we are totally credible nonsense.
This is not limited to the U.S. Fringe ideas have wormed their way into Australia too, and honestly, some of them are laughable if they weren’t so dangerous. Sunscreen is supposedly “toxic” or “blocks your vitamin D,” raw milk is apparently better than pasteurised, and some people actually claim that radiation from your phone is slowly cooking your brain. Yes, really. Australians, we are smarter than this, or at least we bloody should be. Sunscreen prevents skin cancer, which, newsflash, is the most common cancer in this sunburnt country. Raw milk carries bacteria that pasteurisation was invented to kill. If you drink raw milk thinking it is a health tonic, congratulations, you are literally paying for salmonella in a glass.
And it does not stop there. Some health gurus swear by dodgy detox teas that will supposedly cleanse your liver and kidneys. What they do not tell you is that these teas will more likely give you explosive diarrhoea than a single health benefit. Others will tell you coconut oil is a miracle cure for everything from heart disease to dementia, despite mountains of evidence to the contrary. There are even people peddling earthing, walking barefoot on the ground, as a way to absorb the Earth’s energy to cure disease. Meanwhile, your GP, who actually went to medical school, will look at you like you have lost your marbles.
Do not get me started on anti-vaxxers. These people act like vaccines are some sinister plot while ignoring the fact that measles, whooping cough, polio, and countless other diseases can, and do, kill. Vaccines have saved millions of lives worldwide, including here in Australia. Yet anti-vaxxers will scream about “freedom of choice” while putting everyone around them at risk, including babies too young to be vaccinated and immunocompromised people who cannot fight infections.
They cling to debunked myths linking vaccines to autism and other health problems, ignoring decades of rigorous research. These are not harmless opinions. Every outbreak of preventable disease, every hospitalisation, and every unnecessary death is a direct consequence of ignoring science in favour of social media hype. And let’s be clear, no TikTok video or Instagram post from a “health influencer” counts as evidence.
Anti-vaxxers often present themselves as martyrs or truth seekers, but in reality they are privileged adults making selfish choices at the expense of children and the community. You are not a revolutionary for refusing a vaccine. You are just dumb, reckless, and dangerously misinformed.
Why You Should Listen to Doctors, Not Celebrities or Politicians
Here is the blunt truth. Politicians make policy, not medical recommendations. Celebrities sell products, not science. Health professionals study medicine for years, run trials, and rely on peer-reviewed evidence. When it comes to your body or your baby, that is who you should be listening to.
In Australia, the TGA, RANZCOG, state health departments, and your GP are your allies. Panadol is safe. Vaccines save lives. Sunscreen prevents cancer. Raw milk is not worth the risk.
Conclusion: Grow a Spine, Australia
Misinformation kills, and it is easy to be seduced by a confident voice in a suit or a celebrity with a TV show. But science is not a popularity contest. It is not about what is trending on TikTok or what a president says in a press conference.
If we let these baseless claims go unchallenged, we are not just risking health. We are legitimising ignorance. Australians are smarter than that. We need to call out nonsense, demand evidence, and trust medical experts over charlatans with loud mouths.
So the next time someone tells you paracetamol causes autism, sunscreen is dangerous, or raw milk is a superfood, roll your eyes, laugh, and then do what your doctor says. Your health and your common sense depend on it.
