Trump Promotes Dubious Link Between Autism and Tylenol Use During Pregnancy. Evidence Says Otherwise.

President Donald Trump promoted an unproven link between autism and acetaminophen use during pregnancy in a press conference on Sept. 22. Tylenol is “not good,” he said.

In a statement the same day, the FDA announced it would focus on the “autism epidemic” in part by suggesting pregnant people and their providers exercise more caution around the use of the over-the-counter pain-reliever.

Acetaminophen is one of the few pain-relieving drugs known to be safe for use during pregnancy. Doctors warn that stigmatizing pregnant people’s use of Tylenol—as Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has repeatedly done—is “really dangerous.”

Most research refutes the idea that acetaminophen use leads to neurodevelopmental disorders.

“We don’t have any data to show that Tylenol causes autism,” OB-GYN Dr. Bhaskari Burra said in an interview with Rewire News Group partner newsroom The 19th.

The anti-science idea that drugs like Tylenol or vaccines cause autism isn’t new: In 1998, British researcher Andrew Wakefield claimed that the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism in 12 children. Wakefield’s study was ultimately retracted and he later lost his medical license, but vaccine rates plummeted nonetheless.

The effects were felt for decades. A 2015 study found that parents are less likely to vaccinate the siblings of their autistic children, despite evidence that genetics—not vaccines—play a role in increasing the chance of autism.

Childhood vaccination rates continue to decline today. Nationwide, kindergarten MMR vaccination rates were at 92.5 percent for the 2024-2025 school year, down from 95.2 percent for the 2019-2020 academic year. A 95 percent threshold is needed to achieve herd immunity for measles.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz has called autism spectrum disorder “devastating” for children and families. But some advocates find this characterization of autism stigmatizing.

“Autism doesn’t need a cure,” a social worker in Maryland told the New York Times.

Evidence is clear—acetaminophen is a safe, crucial way for pregnant people to stay healthy. Without it, pain and fever may be left untreated and could cause more harm in pregnancy.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists President Steven J. Fleischman said in a Sept. 22 statement that acetaminophen is essential to those who need it. Maternal fever and headaches can be an early sign of preeclampsia—that is, persistent high blood pressure during pregnancy or post-birth that can lead to organ damage and even death of the pregnant person or fetus.

“The conditions people use acetaminophen to treat during pregnancy are far more dangerous than any theoretical risks and can create severe morbidity and mortality for the pregnant person and the fetus,” Fleischman said.

Vaccines provide crucial protection for pregnant people, too.

“Women of reproductive age … certainly are at risk of COVID,” Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said in a previous interview with RNG. “And, in my view, [they] should be vaccinated.”

This article was adapted from a Bluesky thread.

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