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Inna Kot\/Getty Images\/iStockphoto<\/p>\n
The Trump administration is planning to release a report this month that will reportedly link use of the common painkiller acetaminophen (sold under the brand name Tylenol) during pregnancy, as well as certain vitamin deficiencies, to autism spectrum disorder, despite lacking the scientific research to back up such claims.<\/p>\n
This is just the latest controversy surrounding the actions of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has repeated unsupported claims<\/a> about autism in the past, and promised<\/a> to “get to the bottom” of its cause.<\/p>\n The agency confirmed it is working on a report, but declined to comment on its conclusions. “Until we release the final report, any claims about its contents are nothing more than speculation,” said Rich Danker, a spokesperson for HHS in an emailed statement.<\/p>\n What does the science say? <\/p>\n There is no credible scientific evidence<\/a> that acetaminophen causes autism or that leucovorin (a derivative of folic acid) can prevent the disorder, as the HHS report purportedly will suggest, according to reporting by the Wall Street Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n In fact, those in the medical community, including the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, said in a statement that acetaminophen is safe and recommended for use in pregnancy, especially to treat fever and pain. “Untreated fever, particularly in the first trimester, increases the risk of miscarriage, birth defects, and premature birth, and untreated pain can lead to maternal depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure,” the society said in its statement.<\/p>\n “It is disingenuous and misleading to boil autism’s causes down to one simple thing,” said Dr. Alycia Halladay, chief science officer at the Autism Science Foundation, in a statement. There are hundreds of genes<\/a> that are linked to autism, and while there are also thought to be other complex environmental factors, the foundation says “any association between acetaminophen and autism is based on limited, conflicting, and inconsistent science and is premature given the current science.”<\/p>\n A few small studies<\/a> have suggested an association between fetal exposure to acetaminophen and the subsequent risk of diagnosis with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But the largest study to date<\/a>, an NIH-funded collaboration between U.S. and Swedish scientists, found no increased risk.<\/p>\n Even before that study was published in 2024, a U.S. District Court had reached a similar conclusion<\/a> in a product liability case.<\/p>\n What about folate? <\/p>\n Leucovorin, also known as folinic acid, is a form of vitamin B9 (also known as folate) that is used to treat certain types of vitamin B9 deficiency that are usually caused by cancer chemotherapy. It is sometimes prescribed off-label as a treatment for autism, though the evidence that it works is scant.<\/p>\n![\"Brain](\"https:\/\/media.npr.org\/assets\/img\/2023\/09\/29\/babyprofile-dna_sq-9d179368fa7af2f64f7db60c63522c830bf15ccf.jpg?s=100&c=85&f=jpeg\")
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