On September 22, 2025, the White House became the epicenter of a growing controversy as President Donald Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. addressed the nation, making sweeping claims about the causes of autism. At the heart of their statements was an assertion that taking acetaminophen—the active ingredient in Tylenol—during pregnancy could raise the risk of autism in children. The message, delivered at a high-profile press conference, has since rippled through the medical community, parents’ groups, and advocacy organizations, prompting both confusion and concern.
Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Health Department and an emergency medicine physician, found herself inundated with messages from anxious parents and colleagues in the days following the announcement. “What the heck? This doesn’t seem right,” read one of the many texts she received, as reported by Yahoo. Avegno, who is also the mother of a 23-year-old autistic son, anticipated that the press conference would spark questions. She prepared by reviewing the available research, determined to provide clear, evidence-based answers to her community.
“Yeah, this is not what the research says,” Avegno explained to Yahoo, emphasizing that while a single study had suggested a possible link between Tylenol and autism, “there are a whole bunch of studies that refute it.” Her goal, she said, was to ensure people understood the nuance behind the claims and didn’t “throw the baby out with the bathwater” by discarding the guidance of health officials altogether. But, she warned, the narrative presented by the White House was far from the whole story.
The complexity of autism—its causes, manifestations, and the lived experiences of those on the spectrum—defies easy explanations. Dr. Peter Hotez, a pediatrician and dean at Baylor College of Medicine, knows this well. When his daughter Rachel was diagnosed with autism more than two decades ago, his wife’s first reaction was to ask, “What did she do wrong during pregnancy?” Hotez’s quest for answers led him to a career in vaccine science and public advocacy, as well as the publication of his book, Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism.
For Hotez, the recent White House announcement was not only misleading but potentially damaging. “You’re doing something wrong with your pregnancy,” is the message he fears women will take away, he told Yahoo. Hotez pointed out that the strongest evidence indicates about 80% of autism cases are linked to inherited genetic mutations, although environmental factors during pregnancy—such as exposure to the anti-seizure drug valproate—can interact with genetics to increase risk. Tylenol, he stressed, is “far lower down on the list” of possible contributing factors. Presenting the Tylenol-autism link as definitive, he warned, is “simplistic thinking that causes a lot of damage.”
Direct harm, Hotez explained, comes from discouraging the use of one of the few safe medications available to pregnant women for fever and pain. “Fever itself can put developing fetuses at risk for severe congenital defects of the spine and face,” he noted. Indirectly, the focus on Tylenol distracts from efforts to uncover the real, complex causes of autism and to support affected families.
The reverberations of the White House’s message have been felt by autistic individuals themselves. Alex Pham, a 22-year-old autistic advocate, told Yahoo that claims about Tylenol and autism have already begun circulating in online communities. “The idea definitely has legs,” he said, expressing frustration that the narrative seems to suggest that “the worst thing a child can be is autistic.” His mother, Dr. Hoangmai (Mai) Pham, a former internist and health policy specialist, echoed this sentiment. The administration’s emphasis on Tylenol, she argued, represents “a regression to blaming mothers and potentially putting pregnancies at risk.”
“The thought [that Tylenol would be a significant factor in autism] was just eye-rolling. We’re going back 20, 30 years, to blaming mothers,” Dr. Pham told Yahoo. She and her colleagues at the Institute for Exceptional Care, which she founded to improve health care for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, questioned whether the administration had consulted the autism community about its real needs. “There is so much opportunity cost in throwing out the red herring of Tylenol,” she added.
For many parents, the White House’s claims have reopened old wounds and anxieties. Dr. Christopher Allen, a neurologist specializing in sleep medicine and the father of an 8-year-old autistic son, described the emotional rollercoaster that families experience following a diagnosis. “Not only are you giving us accusations without the data ... it’s making it harder for parents and family members with autism. They’re trying to get to acceptance and doing what they can to help their child,” Allen said to Yahoo. He emphasized the importance of relying on evidence: “It’s my job to do no harm ... and to look at the data.” The study cited by the White House, he pointed out, showed only a possible correlation between Tylenol and autism—not causation.
Medical and scientific communities have responded with a chorus of concern. According to Reuters, President Trump’s press conference was roundly criticized by experts, including Arthur Caplan, a bioethicist at New York University, who called it “the saddest display of lack of evidence, rumours, recycling old myths, lousy advice, outright lies, and dangerous lies I have ever witnessed by someone in authority.” The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada also weighed in, reminding the public that taking Tylenol for fever and pain during pregnancy is both safe and appropriate. In fact, they noted, fever itself poses a greater risk to pregnant women and their fetuses than Tylenol does.
The controversy was further inflamed by President Trump’s revival of the thoroughly discredited claim that MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccines increase autism risk. He urged parents to “space out” vaccinations, contradicting established guidelines from pediatric infectious disease experts. The combination vaccine schedule, experts clarified, is already spaced out and designed for maximum safety and effectiveness.
Adding to the confusion, officials at the press conference touted the potential benefits of leucovorin, a folic acid metabolite, for alleviating autism symptoms. However, as reported by Reuters, only tiny studies have suggested any benefit, and leucovorin is not an established treatment for autism.
The backdrop to these developments is a dramatic increase in autism diagnoses in the United States over the past several decades—from 1 in 2,500 in the 1980s to 1 in 31 today. Experts attribute this surge not to an actual rise in cases, but to evolving diagnostic criteria and greater recognition of autism as a spectrum. “There aren’t markedly more people with severe autism, the symptoms aren’t different, but our recognition that the condition manifests on a spectrum has changed over time,” Reuters reported.
For many in the autism community and among medical professionals, the White House’s embrace of unproven and simplistic explanations for autism’s causes has done little but sow confusion and fear. As Dr. Avegno and others have stressed, the real needs of families affected by autism—support, understanding, and evidence-based guidance—are being overshadowed by rhetoric that risks doing more harm than good.
As the dust settles, the message from experts remains clear: when it comes to medical decisions—especially during pregnancy—science, not politics, should guide the way.
