LOADINGERROR LOADING
Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) articulated his apprehensions over President Trump and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s claims linking Tylenol to autism in children, despite a clear lack of scientific evidence.
“I’m obviously very concerned about that. I am a father and a grandfather and just have, as of about seven months ago, a newborn grandson,” Thune said on CNN’s “Inside Politics” Wednesday to host Dana Bash.
Advertisement
Noting that “science ought to guide these discussions, these conversations and our decision making around our health,” Thune indicated that Trump and Kennedy alluded to certain “studies out there” showing a link between autism and Tylenol.
“I think there are an awful lot of people in the medical community who come to a different conclusion about the use of Tylenol,” he said.
Medical experts have called out the Trump administration’s announcement as false, including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which deemed the unproven guidance “irresponsible” and “unsettling” in a statement Monday.
Advertisement
Thune continued to urge others to exercise caution with this kind of information.
“I think that — obviously, my view is we ought to be very guarded in making broad assertions and make sure that they are well grounded in science and medicine, and where we’re taking the consultation advice of experts in the field and ensuring that these things are all well documented,” Thune added.
On Monday, Trump stood beside Kennedy, a well-known health conspiracy theorist, and the nation’s top public health officials to announce that the use of Tylenol during pregnancy may be linked to an increased risk of autism and that pregnant women should limit their use.
Advertisement
The White House has cited multiple studies that it claims show evidence that “acetaminophen use in pregnant women, especially late in pregnancy, may cause long-term neurological effects in their children,” despite decades of evidence stating that it is safe.
Trump admitted that his comments weren’t exactly based on scientific evidence, which only fueled more concern.
“You know, I’m just making these statements from me,” he said. “I’m not making them from these doctors, because when they talk about, you know, different results, different studies, I talk about a lot of common sense. And they have that too. They have that too, a lot.”
Advertisement
Many, including Tylenol itself, have criticized the Trump administration’s announcement. Tylenol states on its website that it “strongly disagrees” that acetaminophen (commonly known as Tylenol) causes autism and is “deeply concerned about the health risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents.”
“Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy,” the company’s said. “Without it, women face dangerous choices: Suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives.”
The company added, “High fevers and pain are widely recognized as potential risks to a pregnancy if left untreated.”
Advertisement
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) has also called on the Trump administration to “release the new data that it has to support this claim.”
“The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case,” Cassidy wrote in an X post Monday. “The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem.”
TruthSavesLives
Your SupportFuelsOur Mission
Your SupportFuelsOur Mission
Dangerous myths about medicine spread fastest when watchdogs are silenced. Become a member today and help us safeguard science, protect health, and keep the public informed.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.
Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.
Support HuffPost
Already contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
Watch Thune’s appearance on “Inside Politics” below.