EXCLUSIVE: Professor Lu Shi, PhD, is an associate professor of health sciences at Pace University College of Health Professionals with extensive knowledge of healthcare policy
19:19 ET, 20 Nov 2025Updated 21:21 ET, 20 Nov 2025
Professor Lu emphasized that the research the administration is basing its claims on is a mixture of half-evidence, half-rumor and hearsay(Image: Getty Images)
A health policy expert is speaking out against the Trump administration’s specious claims that acetaminophen, or Tylenol, is the primary cause of autism in children, calling the allegations dangerous and primarily based on thin and unproven research.
Professor Lu Shi, PhD, is an associate professor of health sciences at Pace University College of Health Professionals with extensive knowledge of healthcare policy. He is pushing back against claims from President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that there is a link between pregnant women taking Tylenol and their children being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder.
Professor Shi emphasized that the research the administration is basing its claims on is a mixture of half-evidence, half-rumor and hearsay, which has the potential to be even more harmful than if the claims were based only on rumors or conjecture.
READ MORE: Trump goes on bizarre autism rant during White House Diwali celebrationREAD MORE: Trump blasted over controversial comments linking Tylenol and autism
“Their press release was actually based upon evidence and rumor,” Shi said. “And overall, it could be very misleading and harmful, because I would put a mixture of real evidence and hearsay rumors, and that could be actually more harmful than, you know, something that is 100% junk.”
Shi said that much of the information provided by the administration to justify their findings is based on “mediocre and moderate” quality studies. While serious scholars conduct these studies, even those scholars acknowledge in the conclusions of those studies that Tylenol and similar products are still considered the safest pain relievers and fever reduces for pregnant women.
Lu is pushing back against claims from President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that there is a link between pregnant women taking Tylenol(Image: Getty Images)
He added that while many people may be predisposed to believing or not believing what Trump and Kennedy are claiming, even a politically neutral person could be frightened by such claims. This could potentially lead them to either stop taking Tylenol for pain or fever reduction during pregnancy or even worse, start taking NSAIDs like ibuprofen, which is proven to cause more serious complications, especially during the third trimester of pregnancy.
“This is dangerous — a neutral lay person with common sense will say, ‘OK, I don’t know what is true, but if these doctors are saying this, maybe I stay on the safe side and not take Tylenol,'” Shi said.
Shi then brought up the language that Trump has used when talking about Tylenol and pregnancy, saying that women should “tough it out” when it comes to fever and pain during pregnancy. “I think it’s particularly disgusting for the president to say ‘just toughen up,” Shi said.
Lu concluded by saying he believes the administration’s claims are part of a larger societal pattern of blaming women for when things go wrong during pregnancy(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Shi suggested that the administration’s rationale for making this announcement was that Kennedy had promised the public earlier this year that they would announce the cause of autism in September, a statement that Shi said nobody with any serious scientific training would ever say. “That is a blanket statement that no one with any legitimate scientific training would say,” Shi said.
He added that, given Kennedy’s well-known anti-vaccine opinions and his pushing of debunked theories that vaccines cause autism, the route the administration would have taken could have been blaming vaccines for autism. But given that the COVID-19 vaccine was one of the seminal accomplishments, Shi said they could not take that route. Instead, he said, they chose an easy target in Tylenol.
“So they pick this easy target and portray themselves as like this crusade fighter against Tylenol and take the easy way out,” Shi said.
Given Kennedy’s well-known anti-vaccine opinions and his pushing of debunked theories that vaccines cause autism, the route the administration would have taken could have been blaming vaccines for autism(Image: Getty Images)
Shi sharply criticized Kennedy’s understanding of autism spectrum disorder, and said he takes this very personally, given that his own step-son is on the autism spectrum. “I can tell he [Kennedy] has near-zero understanding of what autism is,” Shi said.
Shi concluded by saying he believes the administration’s claims are part of a larger societal pattern of blaming women for when things go wrong during pregnancy. “I think this actually comes from, I believe, the whole statement, is part of a much longer tradition of blaming the mom for everything that looks like adverse events that happen to the child,” Shi said.
“Whenever we see something abnormal or challenging with a child, the knee-jerk reaction is ‘okay, what did mom do wrong,'” he added. Shi’s overall message to pregnant women could be summed up as follows: they must listen to their doctors and medical professionals and make the best decision for themselves and their child.
He said that as long as they follow the dosage information on the medication bottle and take it under the supervision of a doctor, the risks are relatively low. “The instructions on the bottle are very clear and definitely do it under the instruction of the clinician,” Shi said.
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