US President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that taking painkiller Tylenol during pregnancy may contribute to rising autism rates in the United States — a claim scientists say lacks evidence and risks fueling misinformation.
Speaking at the White House, Trump warned women against using acetaminophen, the drug’s generic name, “during the entire pregnancy.” He went further, telling reporters, “Taking Tylenol is not good. I’ll say it. Not good.” He also advised against giving children Tylenol after vaccinations and floated leucovorin, a form of folic acid, as a treatment for autism symptoms.
The remarks came as Trump’s administration, guided by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again movement, pushes new — and often controversial — directions in public health. Kennedy has long promoted theories tying vaccines to autism, ideas rejected by mainstream medicine.
Trump teased the announcement a day earlier, saying, “I think we found an answer to autism.” That framing, experts say, vastly oversells what science can currently support.
The Food and Drug Administration simultaneously published a notice in the Federal Register approving a version of leucovorin made by GSK, a drug previously withdrawn but used in certain rare metabolic disorders that share some neurological symptoms with autism. Small studies have shown promise, but researchers stress that large, randomized trials are still needed.
The FDA also plans to issue a physicians’ notice on acetaminophen and pregnancy, while beginning the process of adding a safety warning label.
But doctors and researchers quickly countered Trump’s claims. They note that autism’s rise — now affecting 1 in 31 US children — stems largely from broader diagnostic criteria and greater awareness, not from a single cause. Genetics and environmental factors may play roles, but no conclusive link has been found with Tylenol.
Trump’s comments and Kennedy’s influence have deepened divisions inside US health agencies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently saw its immunization advisory panel, newly stocked with Kennedy allies critical of vaccines, change guidance on COVID-19 and other shots.
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With inputs from agencies