Trump Admin Says Tylenol Use In Pregnancy Is Linked To Autism. Medical Experts Couldn’t Disagree More.

President Donald Trump, flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, announced on Monday that the FDA will be notifying physicians nationwide to take caution when telling pregnant patients to take Tylenol, saying it increases the risk of autism when taken during pregnancy, as part of a larger report RFK Jr. promised would identify the cause of autism by September. The medical community has previously come to a consensus that all existing studies linking prenatal Tylenol use to autism and ADHD are flawed, and no new data was presented at the briefing to suggest HHS has found evidence to the contrary. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine. (SMFM) have also released joint statements about this body of research, emphasizing that it doesn’t prove that the medication itself causes any harm.

Headlines about Tylenol causing autism are likely to generate fear and anxiety in pregnant people, who have no alternative over-the-counter pain medication to take while they’re expecting — ibuprofen has been linked to a host of risks, from congenital anomalies to miscarriage. Scary Mommy spoke with an expert on Tylenol safety and pregnancy to break down everything you’re seeing in the news right now.

What was announced at the White House briefing today?

President Trump announced that “the FDA will be notifying physicians that taking acetaminophen has been associated with an increased risk of autism.” (At this point in the press conference, the president had to be told how to pronounce acetaminophen, and switched to exclusively using the brand name Tylenol.) “For this reason they are strongly recommending women limit Tylenol use in pregnancy unless medically necessary in cases of extremely high fever, when you feel you can’t tough it out or can’t do it, [which is] a small number of cases I think.”

The president began the address by saying he and RFK Jr. have long understood more about autism than the people studying it, and asserted that researchers were not letting the public know all that they knew. RFK Jr. similarly called past research looking into genetic factors of autism “fruitless.” Trump concluded by saying that “all pregnant women should talk to their doctors for more information about limiting the use of this medication,” adding, “if you can’t tough it out or can’t do it, you’ll take a Tylenol but do it sparingly.”

Trump also said that parents should not give Tylenol to infants, for example, before vaccine appointments, but did not elaborate on data behind the recommendation. The president then laid the groundwork for future announcements around his administration’s belief that vaccines are another contributor to autism. For instance, he said he feels the MMR vaccine should all be given as separate vaccines, concluding, “This is based on what I feel.”

Kennedy Jr. added that the FDA will also be updating the label on leucovorin, a drug FDA-approved to counteract certain chemotherapy side effects. In previous clinical trials, it appeared to help children with autism improve their speech; however, the Autism Science Foundation does not currently recommend it as a treatment, citing the need for further studies, according to NBC News.

The fact that research often identifies this association between Tylenol use and ASD/ADHD, but similarly can never confirm it as a cause, is the rub.

What do medical experts think?

Following the news of RFK Jr.’s intent to revive the Tylenol and autism discourse, doctors posted on social media to remind followers that this issue has previously been put to bed. They explain that the studies connecting Tylenol and autism did not account for confounding factors, i.e., other things in the lives of the participants that could have affected the results. Dr. Vicki Chan specifically notes that research should answer for the reasons why women in the study took Tylenol. Could their fevers, pain, or underlying conditions actually be increasing the risk of altered fetal development, and explain why there appears to be an association between taking Tylenol and autism or ADHD?‌

When studies do try to account for these things, the data falls apart under scrutiny, experts say. “Association is not causation. And every time you try and figure out parts of that, where it's coming from, it doesn't pan out,” says Dr. Sarah Običan, director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and co-director of USF Health and the Tampa General Hospital Fetal Care Center, tells Scary Mommy.

Običan has served as an expert witness in litigation related to Tylenol’s use during pregnancy, so she has analyzed all existing research on the subject. She is also part of an international group of physicians who have published a response refuting studies saying Tylenol causes ADHD and autism. She says this new paper’s legitimacy depends on how good the data it analyzed was, and that data has been called into question repeatedly.

As Scary Mommy previously reported, RFK Jr. has a history of citing old and debunked studies, some from as far back as the 1950s, in his effort to find the environmental toxins he believes are causing autism. This latest announcement comes after the Trump administration laid off swaths of HHS employees actively investigating environmental causes of autism and slashed millions in research funding for the condition.

Both ACOG and the SMFM issued press releases reiterating the lack of evidence linking Tylenol use to autism. ACOG President Dr. Steven J. Fleischman described the admin’s announcement as “irresponsible” and “dangerous”:

“Today’s announcement by HHS is not backed by the full body of scientific evidence and dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children. It is highly unsettling that our federal health agencies are willing to make an announcement that will affect the health and well-being of millions of people without the backing of reliable data.”

What Experts Say Is Missing From This Conversation

This administration’s assertion that taking Tylenol while pregnant increases the risk of developing autism or other types of neurodivergence is problematic in many ways — not just because the data behind the claim is shaky. Most importantly, we know the primary cause of autism is genetics.

“It's the number one reason why patients have whatever we have, physical disease or neurodivergence. It's just us, right? It's what we are made of,” Običan says. The Autism Science Foundation says 15% to 20% of people with ASD have an identifiable genetic cause, while the rest either have a number of small genetic variations or a mutated gene plus some “environmental factors.” Those factors may include things like maternal medical conditions, age of parents at conception, or viral infections. (Like medications, these have all been associated with autism, but not determined to be causes.)

Običan says this persistence to link medication use to autism and ADHD perpetuates stigma about neurodivergence, painting it as a bad outcome to be avoided at all costs. It also implies that women are to blame for those so-called bad outcomes when they happen to their children, either because they were clueless about the risks of treating their pain while pregnant or because they were selfish enough to do it anyway. This hearkens back to the “refrigerator mother,” an early 1900s theory that wrongfully placed responsibility for autism on mothers. The president’s “tough it out” verbiage on Monday reinforced this shame.

Trump also emphasized that there is no harm in reaching conclusions about the causes of autism rapidly, and no harm in not taking Tylenol while pregnant. “Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen [sic]. The way I look at it, don’t take it. There’s no downside in not taking it,” he said.

This is simply untrue.

All decisions about whether or not to take a medication while pregnant require you to consider the risks of taking it, sure, but there are also risks to not taking a medication in some instances. Fever is associated with increased risk of birth defects, and we have no clue what effect untreated chronic pain may have on a fetus, Običan says (to say nothing of how it would affect the mother). You should be thinking about the full picture when making your own health choices.

Pregnant people have very few pain and fever control options while expecting, Običan adds, and there’s little research being done to find alternatives for them should we take Tylenol away on a hunch. “We tell patients, ‘Don't use opioids because that's really a problem in this country,’ and we tell them, ‘You can't use anti-steroidals,’ because ibuprofen can really cause harm, either for growth or for bleeding. Then, we don't have any other choice [but Tylenol].”

Is it still safe to take acetaminophen while pregnant?

In short, yes. In fact, current medical guidance is exactly what the president and his officials repeated today. Običan always recommends taking the lowest dose of medication, only as needed, during pregnancy. In a statement posted across their social media platforms, ACOG also reinforced their existing guidelines, saying, “When pain relief is needed during pregnancy, acetaminophen should be used in moderation, and after consulting your doctor.”

If you are concerned about the potential risks of taking Tylenol while pregnant, Običan encourages you to talk to your OB-GYN and trust them — they are trained to read scientific literature, assess it, and summarize it for you. “When the ACOG and SMFM do that, and your doctor does that, have a little bit of trust. It’s not that [they can’t] be wrong, it's just that all the available data that one has at this point in time points a certain way.”