As much fun as it is to develop a time travel story on-line, recent events have convinced me that I need to put that little project on hold. The real world is turning out to be far stranger than anything I could dream up in science fiction.
Yesterday the president of the United States made a big public speech, telling everyone that pregnant women should not take acetaminophen (eg: Tylenol) because it will give their child Autism. Not surprisingly, that assertion is inconsistent with actual science.
In fact, since other painkillers such as ibuprofen are unsafe for a developing fetus, acetaminophen is one of the few effective ways to relieve pain during pregnancy. And complications from chronic pain are far more likely to harm the child.
Chronic pain elevates maternal stress levels, triggers inflammatory responses, and reduces uterine blood flow needed to delivery oxygen and nutrients to the baby. This can lead to premature birth, low birth weight, altered brain structure and developmental issues later in life.
But facts don’t really enter into the conversation here. This president is an opposite man: He says and does racist things while claiming to fight racism, calls his adversaries antisemites while lionizing people who push “replacement theory”, and rebrands the Department of Defense (whose main purpose is to prevent war) as the Department of War. The list goes on.
And now, true to form, he has given us another opposite man moment: He is giving a big headache to companies that make pills to fight headaches. He is also endangering lives in the process, but I am not that sure he cares about such details.