Trump and Government Officials Link Tylenol to Autism—ACOG and Doctors Refute the Claim

President Donald Trump, joined by Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr., urged pregnant women to avoid Tylenol in an announcement on Monday, claiming that it’s been linked to autism in children.

This announcement has sparked widespread concern among medical organizations, public health experts, researchers and autism advocacy groups, who say that existing scientific evidence doesn’t support a causal link.

“Today’s announcement by HHS is not backed by the full body of scientific evidence and dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children,” Steven J. Fleischman, MD, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), said in a statement. “It is highly unsettling that our federal health agencies are willing to make an announcement that will affect the health and well-being of millions of people without the backing of reliable data.”

Moreover, experts say a fever can be very dangerous for both a pregnant woman and the fetus, potentially causing preeclampsia or even miscarriage.

“A thorough review of all the literature to date suggests that there is no evidence that acetaminophen (Tylenol) causes autism,” says Cynthia Gyamfi-Bannerman, MD, MS, a board-certified perinatologist, the department chair of obstetrics, gynecology and reproductive sciences at University of California San Diego Health Sciences, and past president of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. “Both the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists continue to recommend Tylenol as needed in pregnancy. Untreated fever can be dangerous for a developing pregnancy and can lead to birth defects, miscarriage and preterm birth. Tylenol is also important to triage headache in the setting of elevated blood pressures that would indicate a severe form of preeclampsia. Please ask your doctor, midwife or obstetric provider about the use of all medications in pregnancy.”

Doctors also point out that there are multiple genetic and environmental causes of autism. “Autism is complex, and involves many different parts of the brain working together,” says Amir Miodovnik, MD, MPH, a developmental-behavioral pediatrician who helps parents navigate the challenges of raising children with ADHD, autism and learning differences. “Saying it has one cause oversimplifies the science. It is not caused by parenting styles, vaccines or anything families did or did not do.”

Research shows that the science on acetaminophen (the generic name for Tylenol) and autism is far from settled. A 2024 peer-reviewed study published in JAMA that included over 2 million children found no association between taking acetaminophen in pregnancy and autism, ADHD or other neurodevelopmental conditions. In August, a study led by Mount Sinai was published analyzing 46 studies on acetaminophen use during pregnancy and neurodevelopmental disorders, with six of the studies looking specifically at autism. While the analysis concluded there was “strong evidence of an association” between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, it cautioned that it couldn’t show causation and that further research is necessary. “We recommend judicious acetaminophen use—lowest effective dose, shortest duration—under medical guidance, tailored to individual risk-benefit assessments, rather than a broad limitation,” the researchers wrote.

Miodovnik stresses that association and causation are very different. “Tylenol hasn’t met the key requirements for causation,” he says. “The correlations in these studies are very small, inconsistent across studies, disappear when controlling for family genetics and lack strong biological proof. That’s why experts say the evidence shows an association, but they cannot and should not be calling it a cause.”

Acetaminophen is generally considered to be one of the safest medications during pregnancy and is used by 65 percent of pregnant women, according to a 2014 study. Doctors say to avoid ibuprofen and high-dose aspirin, as these aren’t safe during pregnancy.

Trump says the U.S. Food and Drug administration will notify doctors of the supposed risks of taking acetaminophen. “They are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary,” for example to treat a high fever, he announced. “If you can’t tough it out,” he added.

Kennedy said HHS is planning to launch a nationwide campaign to inform families of this purported link and encouraged doctors to use the lowest effective dose with the shortest necessary duration.

The FDA said it’s starting the process of changing the safety label on acetaminophen products. But the agency took a less alarmist tone than Trump himself in a letter to physicians, acknowledging that “a causal relationship hasn’t been established and there are contrary studies in the scientific literature” and asking that “clinicians should consider minimizing the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy for routine low-grade fevers.”

Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, said Monday that it “strongly disagrees” that Tylenol can cause autism and that it’s “deeply concerned about the health risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents.”