Watching President Donald Trump warn women not to use Tylenol during pregnancy was a surreal experience for onlookers who believe in evidence-based science. At a White House news conference in September, the president stumbled over the word “acetaminophen,” the generic US name for the medicine, then heavily suggested it can cause autism in children. He also said those with pain and fevers while pregnant should simply “tough it out.”
Swift rebuttals followed from medical and scientific groups, as well as Tylenol’s maker, Kenvue Inc. Steven Fleischman, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, called it “highly unsettling” that federal officials would make such an unproven claim. While some research has linked Tylenol with autism, other studies — including one just published in the British Medical Journal — found no clear link. None have proven a causal relationship, something the US Food and Drug Administration would go on to tell doctors in a carefully worded advisory.