Trump Administration Says Tylenol Causes Autism

The Trump administration said “horrible, horrible” autism is caused by Tylenol use while pregnant in a controversial announcement that sparked concern within the scientific community.

In a press conference on Monday, Sept. 22, Donald Trump, flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Dr. Mehmet Oz, said that the rising rates of autism show that “there’s something artificial, they’re taking something,” saying that the Amish have no autism, and Cuba has “virtually no autism” because they don’t have Tylenol.

Trump said that “taking Tylenol is not good,” and the Food and Drug Administration will no longer recommend Tylenol during pregnancy — only in cases where a women can’t “tough it out.”

“Ideally you don’t take it at all,” he said. “With Tylenol, don’t take it,” Trump said, saying you should only take it with a bad fever. “I think you shouldn’t take it,” he said, saying you shouldn’t give Tylenol to children either, going on to say autism is “artificially induced.”

“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump said, going on to share, “I’m making these statements from me, not for these doctors” 

“Life is common sense,” Trump said. “There’s a lot of common sense in this.”

Experts don’t agree. “People have been taking Tylenol since 1960, and there’s a very long history of safety here,” Dr. Karam Radwan, Director of the UChicago Medicine Neurodevelopmental Clinic, tells PEOPLE.

Trump’s claims about Tylenol are based on research published in August in Environmental Health, which examined the data of numerous previous studies. Researchers claim there is a “positive association” between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen — the active ingredient in Tylenol — and neurodevelopmental disorders like autism. 

But the study’s authors also said that they “cannot establish causation for any single exposure.”

What that means, says Radwan, is that “if you’re taking Tylenol for weeks, that does indicate by itself that there is probably something like an inflammation, infection, some autoimmune problem that’s causing people to take Tylenol extensively during pregnancy. These underlying problems could be the issue — rather than Tylenol itself.”

“That doesn’t mean the Tylenol is the cause,” he said. The cause “could be the reason why you’re taking Tylenol.“

Kennedy — who had previously given himself a September deadline to find the cause of autism — has sparked controversy with his approach to the neurodevelopmental disorder, a condition related to brain development that can cause limited and repeated patterns of behavior, challenges in communicating with others, and a breakdown of speech, according to Mayo Clinic.

Kennedy announced plans for a national registry of people with autism, compiled with private medical records. He also sparked intense backlash in April after saying people with autism will “never pay taxes. They’ll never hold a job. They’ll never play baseball.” And, he has previously promoted a scientifically debunked claim that autism is caused by vaccines. 

Trump first teased the announcement while speaking at a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, on Sunday, Sept. 21, saying, “I think we found an answer to autism.” 

He went on to tell the crowd at the State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., that his administration “won’t let it happen anymore,” and said it would be “one of the biggest announcements, medically, in the history of our country.”

In a statement to PEOPLE, Tylenol’s parent company Kenvue defended the use of the medication in pregnancy. “We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers,” a spokesperson from the company said.

“Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy. Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives,” they added.

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They continued, “The facts are that over a decade of rigorous research, endorsed by leading medical professionals and global health regulators, confirms there is no credible evidence linking acetaminophen to autism.”

“We stand with the many public health and medical professionals who have reviewed this science and agree. We will continue to explore all options to protect the health interests of American women and children,” the spokesperson concluded..