Worldwide dissemination of misinformation is part of the US President’s M.O. and last month he stunned the medical world when he announced that the US FDA would be warning physicians that paracetamol use during pregnancy, or when given to children, “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.”
He said pregnant should women either avoid the medicine altogether or use sparingly “if you can’t tough it out.”
But The Donald didn’t stop there. In the same press conference he rehashed vaccine conspiracy theories, including alluding to the thoroughly debunked one about the MMR vaccine and autism, before going on to claim that hepatitis B is sexually transmitted and therefore doesn’t need to be given until a child is 12.
Autism and Panadol are just the latest in the Orange One’s long list of fearmongering topics – but how worried should we here in Australia?
Healthed’s national poll reveals that the Trump contagion is reaching down under. One in five GPs have had at least one person raise concerns or ask questions about the safety of paracetamol in pregnancy in the past fortnight, following Trump’s claims it could lead to autism, the survey of around 900 respondents has found.
A worrying 37% of GPs believe Trump’s words are negatively impacting on their patients’ willingness to follow Australian government recommendations regarding vaccinations, according to Healthed’s survey.
Whie 60% said there had been no impact, several optimistically suggested patients here were too smart for that.
“I don’t think sensible people get health advice from Trump or RFK Jnr,” one GP commented.
“Most patients see him as the poorly informed idiot that he is.” – GP in Healthed’s survey
“I suspect there has been some negative influence, but I think it is quite minor. Most Australians seem to not have much time for his non-clinical remarks apart from those who already are against vaccination,” another said.
Paradoxically, 3% of GPs actually felt Trump’s comments were having a positive impact on patients when it comes to their willingness to follow Australian vaccine recommendations.
The ‘Trump effect’ appears to be augmented by, or at least reflective of, a broader trend of negative perceptions towards vaccination. In the same survey, 43% of GPs said they have seen an increase in vaccine hesitancy this year compared with last year, while 37% said they have not seen a change, and 21% said there has been a decrease.
A number of GPs blamed concerns over complications with COVID boosters, rather than the Narcissist in Chief, for a perceived rise in vaccine hesitancy in 2025, while others pointed to wider media/social media trends.
“It has nothing to do with Trump, but with negative media information generally,” one GP said.
“I think this is just another arm of the overall negative effect of social media on patients’ decisions,” another said.
“I’m not sure if it’s Trump or just social media, but vaccine hesitancy seems to have worsened,” another commented.
Whatever the cause, it seems misinformation has no borders – and a vaccine has yet to be developed.
For more on this topic:
Babies can get hepatitis B at birth. Here’s why Trump is wrong
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