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Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Thursday reasserted the unproven link between the pain reliever Tylenol and autism, and suggested people who opposed the theory were motivated by hatred for President Donald Trump.
During a meeting with Trump and the Cabinet, Kennedy reiterated the connection, even while noting there was no medical proof to substantiate the claim. He also mistakenly described a pregnant woman’s anatomy and linked autism to circumcision.
“Anybody who takes the stuff during pregnancy unless they have to is, is irresponsible,” Kennedy told Trump and fellow Cabinet members. “It is not proof. We’re doing the studies to make the proof.”
Kennedy has long espoused unconventional beliefs about public health, which have prompted concern among medical experts that, as health secretary, he could upend the country’s evidence-based health policies.
Kennedy noted during the meeting that he had seen a TikTok video on Thursday, which he said featured a pregnant woman “gobbling Tylenol” and cursing Trump. “The level of Trump derangement syndrome has now left the political landscape and now in the realm of pathology,” he said. Kennedy also said the woman was taking Tylenol “with a baby in her placenta.”
A fetus develops in the uterus, not the placenta. The placenta is a temporary organ that develops in the uterus during pregnancy and provides oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to the growing fetus.
Here’s what we know about autism and Tylenol
- The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has long recommended acetaminophen as a safe option during pregnancy. Tylenol’s label already advises women to ask their doctor about use in pregnancy, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine also continues to advise that it’s an appropriate option.
- There are huge potential downsides to avoiding Tylenol when a pregnant woman really needs itaccording to the nation’s leading pregnancy doctors. Untreated fevers, for example, can increase the risk of birth defects, premature birth and miscarriages, according to the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.
- In October, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. reiterated the unproven connection between Tylenol and autism, saying that infant boys who are circumcised have double the rate of autism because they are given Tylenol after the procedure. This claim seems to refer to a study from 2015. Researchers from that study noted that they had no data on painkillers or anesthetics used, and thus couldn’t address whether Tylenol was linked to autism.
Kennedy’s statement came two weeks after he stood with Trump in the White House as the president used his office to promote unproven and, in some cases, discredited ties between Tylenol, vaccines and autism.
Kennedy also said Thursday that infant boys who are circumcised have double the rate of autism because they are given Tylenol after the procedure.
This claim seems to refer to a study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine from 2015, which looked at ritual circumcision and the risk of autism spectrum disorder in boys under the age of 10 in Denmark.
It found that those who had undergone the procedure, which involves the removal of the foreskin from the penis, were more likely to develop autism than other boys in the study. Researchers suggested a potential link might be due to the pain of the procedure. Researchers noted that they had no data on painkillers or anesthetics used, and thus couldn’t address whether Tylenol was linked to autism.
Other researchers pointed out that the Denmark study looked at correlation, not causation. They also point to other studies that found no evidence to support a link between circumcision and autism.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
