By Madeline Halpert
Copyright bbc
Acetaminophen is the main ingredient in the brand Tylenol, known as paracetamol elsewhere in the world. It is one of the only pain relievers recommended for pregnant women, as others like ibuprofen have been linked to birth defects and other adverse outcomes.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday alongside Health Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, Trump claimed acetaminophen caused autism and told women to “fight like hell” not to take it.
The announcement came just months after Kennedy pledged to find the forces behind rising cases of autism in the US.
But public health experts say the evidence about Tylenol and autism is much less clear than Trump and his health secretary suggest. Part of the reason why rates have risen is because our understanding of autism has increased. More children are tested for it, and more are diagnosed.
While some studies have shown a small link between taking acetaminophen during pregnancy and autism in children, no consistent and reliable group of studies has proven it a cause. Some research has even shown no association at all, including a 2024 study of nearly 2.5 million births in Sweden from 1995 to 2019.
Still, many women have expressed concern following Trump’s announcement.
Emily Oster, a Brown University economist who runs the website ParentData, said she received an outpour of messages from mothers who were panicked because they took acetaminophen during pregnancy and were now looking for signs of autism in their children.
“We are scaring a bunch of people for no reason about things they did in the past and we’re generating more anxiety in an already very anxious population,” she said.
Dr Reed said Trump’s remarks could contribute to a sense of guilt for parents whose children have been diagnosed with autism and have already been searching for answers.
“My feeling, and I think the feeling of other people, is that there’s really nothing that you did to cause this, and that includes taking a safe medication during pregnancy,” she said.
