At the end of September, when President Trump claimed taking Tylenol while pregnant was associated with an increased risk of autism in children, Dr. Shakila Thangaratinam knew she needed to act.

Acetaminophen, the drug marketed under the name Tylenol, is the first line medication for treating fever in pregnant women, and the alternatives, as the obstetrician and professor at the University of Liverpool knew, can be dangerous. Taking non-steroidal antiinflammatory ibuprofen, marketed under the name Advil, interferes with a developing fetus’s cardiovascular system. Letting a fever rage unchecked, on the other hand, means exposing the fetus to harmful substances produced as the mother fights off her infection.

But healthcare providers, she knew, were likely to be inundated by questions: “

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