What to Know About the Reported Link Between Tylenol and Autism

President Donald Trump, with the support of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced on Monday new recommendations about the risks of taking acetaminophen while pregnant.

The Details: Trump said, “Taking Tylenol is not good … All pregnant women should talk to their doctors about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant.” This recommendation is based on reported studies that have linked the use of that medication to increased risk of autism in the child. “It’s not that everything’s 100% understood or known, but I think we’ve made a lot of strides,” Trump said.

For Context: Some studies and research reviews by Harvard University’s School of Public Health and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai show that the medication may increase the risk of autism; however, many medical professionals still recommend the use of Tylenol/acetaminophen for pregnant people to treat fever and pain, both of which can also affect the health of the fetus. Other studies published in the National Library of Medicine found no relationship between Tylenol use and autism. 

How the Media Covered It: Both BBC (Center bias) and The Guardian (Left) highlighted the skepticism of some medical experts on this topic, with BBC writing in the headline that “many experts are skeptical,” and The Guardian headline calling the conclusion “highly contentious.” Fox News (Right) did not mention any skepticism from the medical community, though they reported that the increase in autism diagnoses in children “might be due to differences in availability of services for early detection and evaluation and diagnostic practices.” BBC similarly wrote, “Scientists attribute at least part of the rise to increased awareness of autism and an expanding definition of the disorder.”

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