WASHINGTON — The White House was thrust into a storm of controversy this week after Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and President Donald Trump publicly linked circumcision and the use of Tylenol to increased autism rates in boys, reigniting debates over medical evidence and public health messaging.
During a Cabinet meeting on October 9, 2025, Kennedy asserted, “There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they’re given Tylenol.” According to USA TODAY, Kennedy made the claim while Trump looked on, both doubling down on earlier warnings against Tylenol use in pregnancy and infancy.
The remarks referenced a 2015 study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, which examined ritual circumcision and autism risk among Danish boys under 10. The study did find that circumcised boys were more likely to be diagnosed with autism. However, as reported by the AP and The Daily Beast, the researchers themselves noted they had no data on painkillers or anesthetics used during the procedures, making any connection to Tylenol purely speculative.
Medical experts were quick to respond. Helen Tager-Flusberg, a professor at Boston University and an autism specialist, told AFP, “None of the studies have shown that giving Tylenol to babies is linked to a higher risk for autism once you can control for all the confounding variables.” She emphasized that the scientific consensus remains unchanged: correlation does not equal causation.
Despite the lack of direct evidence, Kennedy pressed his case at the Cabinet meeting, stating, “It’s not dispositive that it causes autism. It’s so suggestive that anybody who takes the stuff during pregnancy is irresponsible.” Trump, echoing Kennedy’s sentiment, advised, “I would say don’t take Tylenol if you’re pregnant. And when the baby is born, don’t give it Tylenol.” He added, “You have to tough it out. It’s easy for me to say.”
Their warnings run counter to current medical guidelines. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises pregnant women to avoid ibuprofen after 20 weeks, but acetaminophen—Tylenol’s active ingredient—remains the preferred alternative. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists reaffirmed in September 2025 that acetaminophen is safe to use as directed during pregnancy. The Daily Beast and USA TODAY both noted these endorsements in their coverage.
Tylenol’s manufacturer, Kenvue, responded to the controversy by stating it continues to evaluate scientific studies but that “studies found no causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and fetal developmental issues.”
At the meeting, Kennedy also referenced a TikTok video he had seen that morning. “Somebody showed me a TikTok video of a pregnant woman. She is an associate professor at Columbia Medical School, and she is saying ‘F Trump’ and gobbling Tylenol with her baby in her placenta,” he recounted, confusing the placenta with the uterus—a slip that drew widespread ridicule online, as reported by the AP and The Daily Beast.
Kennedy’s comments were not isolated. Just three weeks earlier, he and Trump had appeared together at a press conference promoting similarly unproven theories linking Tylenol, vaccines, and autism. At the Cabinet meeting, Trump reiterated, “There’s something that’s artificially, I think, induced, something, whether it’s the vaccines, in terms of these massive vaccines,” according to NBC News. This theory, too, has been debunked by the scientific community.
Critics from across the medical and scientific spectrum condemned the administration’s statements. Erik Polyak, executive director of the health advocacy group 314 Action, told The Daily Beast that Kennedy and Trump’s advice amounted to “peak clownery” and accused them of fearmongering. “Their expertise comes from binge-watching Grey’s Anatomy—no one should ever take medical advice from these two. Their ‘findings’ are like a game of Mad-Libs, picking random words and stringing them together to sow fear and chaos,” Polyak said. He added, “RFK Jr. is a disgrace to the scientific and medical community and it’s beyond time for him to leave office, before it’s too late.”
Medical experts have pointed out significant flaws in the 2015 Danish study that Kennedy cited. David Mandell, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, told AFP that the study relied on a small sample of hospitalized Muslim boys, who may have been “otherwise medically compromised,” potentially explaining higher rates of neurodevelopmental disorders. “A more recent review of studies in this area finds no association between circumcision and any adverse psychological effects,” Mandell added.
Further, a rigorous 2024 analysis published in JAMA found no causal link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, using siblings as controls for confounding variables. This, according to AFP, is considered the most robust study on the topic to date.
Despite the uproar, Kennedy has made investigating autism’s root causes a central plank of his tenure as health secretary, even as he has cut research grants in other areas. He has hired vaccine conspiracy theorist David Geier—previously disciplined for practicing medicine without a license—to investigate alleged links between vaccines and autism, a connection that dozens of studies have already debunked.
The political dimensions of the debate were on full display. Kennedy accused critics of his claims of being motivated by animosity toward Trump, saying, “The level of Trump derangement syndrome has now left the political landscape and now in the realm of pathology.” This statement, reported by the AP, highlighted the increasingly partisan tenor of the health policy debate.
Public reaction has been polarized. Some pregnant women took to social media to post videos of themselves taking Tylenol in defiance of Trump’s advice. New York Governor Kathy Hochul, quoted by The Daily Beast, said, “As someone who went through two days of labor, I don’t need lectures on toughness, and neither does any woman. This is insulting to every mother in America.”
As the controversy continues to swirl, the nation’s leading medical organizations have urged Americans to follow evidence-based guidelines and consult their doctors before making decisions about pain relief during pregnancy or infancy. While the debate over autism’s causes is far from settled, the consensus among scientists and physicians remains: the links between Tylenol, circumcision, and autism are unproven, and responsible health policy should be grounded in rigorous science, not speculation or political theater.
The White House, for its part, has shown no sign of backing down, leaving Americans to navigate a maze of conflicting messages about some of the most personal decisions they face.
