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Handle with care — interpretation, synthesis and dissemination of data on paracetamol in pregnancy

Nature Reviews Endocrinology volume 18, page 191 (2022)Cite this article

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Nature Reviews Endocrinology recently published a Consensus Statement by Bauer et al. (Bauer, A.Z. et al. Paracetamol use during pregnancy — a call for precautionary action. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 17, 757–766 (2021)1). The 13 authors — who do not represent a collaborative effort on behalf of health authorities or medical speciality organizations — call for caution. They suggest that there is now sufficient evidence that in utero exposure to paracetamol (otherwise known as acetaminophen or N-acetyl-p-aminophenol (APAP)) alters fetal development to an extent that warrants clinical action. We recognize that the authors reflect appropriately upon the inconsistencies and limitations of the underlying data, and we support their call for better data.

We disagree with their assessment of existing data and their clinical conclusions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Biochemistry & Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark

    Per Damkier

  2. Department of Clinical Research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Per Damkier

  3. School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, Ireland

    Brian Cleary

  4. Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Pharmakovigilanzzentrum Embryonaltoxikologie, Institut für Klinische Pharmakologie und Toxikologie, Berlin, Germany

    Corinna Weber-Schoendorfer

  5. The Israeli Teratology Information Service, Ministry of Health, Jerusalem, Israel

    Svetlana Shechtman & Orna Diav-Cirtin

  6. Clinical Genetics Unit, Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Matteo Cassina

  7. Institute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

    Alice Panchaud

  8. Service of Pharmacy, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Alice Panchaud

  9. The Hebrew University Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel

    Orna Diav-Cirtin

Authors
  1. Per Damkier
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  2. Brian Cleary
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  3. Corinna Weber-Schoendorfer
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  4. Svetlana Shechtman
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  6. Alice Panchaud
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Correspondence to Per Damkier.

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Damkier, P., Cleary, B., Weber-Schoendorfer, C. et al. Handle with care — interpretation, synthesis and dissemination of data on paracetamol in pregnancy. Nat Rev Endocrinol 18, 191 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41574-021-00605-y

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