On September 22, 2025, President Donald Trump stood before a crowd of reporters in the White House, flanked by top health officials, and delivered a message that sent shockwaves through the medical community and beyond. With Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Marty Makary, National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jay Bhattacharya, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz at his side, Trump announced that pregnant women should avoid taking acetaminophen—best known by its brand name, Tylenol—due to what he described as a potential increased risk of autism in their children.
“Taking Tylenol is not good,” Trump declared, urging, “Fight like hell not to take it.” He recommended that pregnant women only use acetaminophen in cases of extremely high fever, adding, “if you can’t tough it out.” According to CNN, this marks an unusually direct intervention by a sitting president into medical advice, particularly given the absence of new evidence establishing a causal link between acetaminophen and autism.
The administration’s claims rest on a recent National Institutes of Health-funded review by Mount Sinai and Harvard researchers. The review analyzed previous studies and concluded there is “evidence consistent with an association between acetaminophen exposure during pregnancy and increased incidence” of neurodevelopmental disorders. However, as reported by Nexstar Media and other outlets, the review explicitly did not establish a direct causal relationship between acetaminophen and autism.
Despite the lack of new data, Trump said the FDA would begin updating warning labels and notifying physicians that Tylenol “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.” Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, echoed Trump’s stance and dismissed the idea that increased autism diagnoses are merely the result of improved detection. “There’s been study after study on it that completely debunks that,” he said, reiterating his controversial view that previous generations did not experience profound autism at today’s rates.
Medical experts and professional organizations swiftly pushed back. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine (SMFM) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) both released statements criticizing the White House’s announcement as “irresponsible” and lacking causal evidence. “In more than two decades of research on the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy, not a single reputable study has successfully concluded that the use of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children,” said Steven Fleischman, president of ACOG, as quoted by Nexstar Media and CNN.
Tylenol manufacturer Kenvue also weighed in, strongly disputing any link between autism and acetaminophen use during pregnancy. “We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism,” the company said in a statement. “We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers.” Kenvue emphasized that acetaminophen remains the safest pain reliever for pregnant women, warning that without it, women might face dangerous choices—such as leaving fevers untreated, which can be harmful to both mother and baby, or turning to riskier alternatives like ibuprofen or aspirin.
Indeed, medical consensus holds that acetaminophen is often the only over-the-counter pain and fever remedy considered safe during pregnancy. Alternatives like ibuprofen and aspirin are generally not recommended due to their association with birth defects and complications, especially after 20 weeks of gestation. The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) reaffirmed that acetaminophen remains a “safe and appropriate first-line option for managing fever and pain during pregnancy when medically needed, at recommended doses and for the shortest duration necessary.”
Experts point to the complex causes of autism, emphasizing that the condition is primarily rooted in genetics, with hundreds of inherited genes thought to play a role. Environmental factors, including paternal age, preterm birth, and maternal health conditions like fever or diabetes during pregnancy, can also contribute. As Dr. Susan Kressly, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, explained to CNN, “There is no single, root cause of autism, and there is no single medication that will give every autistic child or adult what they need.”
Recent large-scale studies have further undercut the administration’s claims. A 2024 Swedish study published in JAMA examined over two million children and found that any apparent association between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism disappeared when accounting for genetic and familial factors. “In these sorts of sibling analyses, any association just completely went away, which implies that a mother’s factors, like genetics, are actually responsible for the statistical association,” said Brian K. Lee, a corresponding author of the study, as reported by CBC.
Older studies and reviews, while sometimes noting an association, have struggled to distinguish whether it is the drug itself or the underlying reason for its use—such as chronic pain or fever—that might be linked to neurodevelopmental outcomes. As Dr. Sura Alwan from the University of British Columbia told CBC, “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
Despite these cautions, the administration is moving forward. FDA Commissioner Marty Makary announced that the agency would promote leucovorin, a form of folic acid, as a way to reduce autism symptoms, and restore approval of Wellcovorin, a branded version previously used in chemotherapy. Yet the Coalition of Autism Scientists and other experts have criticized this move as premature, noting that clinical evidence supporting leucovorin’s effectiveness in autism is weak and based on small, low-quality studies.
Trump’s announcement also touched on vaccines, advocating for spacing out childhood immunizations and referencing the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ decision to no longer recommend the combined MMRV vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella, and chickenpox. He suggested spreading out shots over several years, a position that contradicts established public health guidelines. The CDC and countless studies have found no link between vaccines and autism, and the American Academy of Pediatrics continues to recommend timely immunization to protect children from serious diseases.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a statement noting that the president’s announcement is not supported by science, and encouraged clinicians to use their best judgment, prescribing the lowest effective dose of acetaminophen for the shortest duration when necessary. “Given the conflicting literature and lack of clear causal evidence, HHS wants to encourage clinicians to exercise their best judgment,” the statement read.
Autism rates have been rising in the United States, with about 1 in 31 children diagnosed by age eight in 2022, up from 1 in 36 in 2020. Experts attribute this rise to broader diagnostic criteria, increased awareness, and improved screening, rather than a dramatic shift in environmental risk factors. The medical and scientific communities continue to call for more research into the causes and best treatments for autism, but warn against oversimplifying a complex disorder or promoting unproven links that may cause confusion and harm.
As the dust settles from the White House announcement, families and physicians alike are left grappling with mixed messages. The consensus among leading experts remains: acetaminophen, when used as directed, is still considered safe during pregnancy, and the causes of autism are far more intricate than any single medication or decision.
