US President Donald Trump has drawn sharp criticism from medical experts after claiming that Tylenol use during pregnancy could be linked to autism, a claim widely dismissed as unproven and potentially harmful.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Monday, Trump said doctors would soon be advised not to prescribe the common pain reliever—known as paracetamol outside North America—to pregnant women. “It is no good,” he said, urging women to “fight like hell” to avoid using it except in cases of extreme fever.
Health officials and doctors swiftly pushed back. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said Trump’s remarks dangerously oversimplified the complex causes of autism. Its president, Dr. Steven Fleischman, stressed that “the claim of a link is not backed by the full body of scientific evidence.” The group noted that studies show no clear proof of a direct relationship between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and developmental disorders.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) echoed caution but avoided Trump’s sweeping language. In a notice to doctors, the agency said physicians should weigh limiting Tylenol use but emphasized it remains the safest over-the-counter option for fever and pain in pregnant women. “While an association has been described in some studies, a causal relationship has not been established,” the FDA wrote.
In the UK, Health Secretary Wes Streeting dismissed Trump’s claims outright. “I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this,” he said.
Tylenol maker Kenvue also rejected the suggestion, warning that Trump’s comments could pose risks to expecting mothers. “The science clearly shows acetaminophen does not cause autism,” the company said in a statement.
Despite skepticism from the scientific community, US Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who appeared alongside Trump, said the FDA would initiate a label change for Tylenol and launch a public awareness campaign. Kennedy also announced plans for the FDA to approve leucovorin, a decades-old cancer drug, as a potential treatment for children with autism—a move researchers cautioned was premature.
Autism advocacy groups condemned Trump’s remarks as irresponsible. The UK’s National Autistic Society said his statements undermined decades of research and devalued autistic people.
Research into the issue has produced conflicting results. A Harvard-led review of 46 studies last year suggested a potential link between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders in children. But a major Swedish study of 2.4 million births, published in 2024, found no connection between Tylenol use and autism.
Autism diagnoses have risen in recent decades, with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting rates among 8-year-olds reached 2.77% by 2020. Experts attribute the increase largely to broader definitions and improved awareness, while stressing that autism likely arises from a complex mix of genetic and environmental factors.
Trump, who has previously promoted unfounded medical claims during the Covid-19 pandemic, called autism a “horrible crisis” and vowed to push ahead with efforts to identify its causes. But researchers warn that the science remains unsettled and caution against drawing conclusions from incomplete evidence.
