Since President Donald Trump introduced at a White House news conference three weeks in the past that pregnant ladies’s use of Tylenol may elevate the chance of autism of their youngsters, claims concerning the drug have been circulating on-line.
In a Cabinet meeting last week, Trump repeated claims that autism charges are low in some teams, together with the Amish neighborhood, as a result of they do not take medicines or get vaccinated.
Moreover, the president repeated a declare he made on social media that younger youngsters, together with infants, should not be given Tylenol with out offering proof to again up the assertion.
Unverified claims have additionally been spreading that pregnant ladies are ingesting poisonous quantities of the drug to make some extent to the administration.
Docs informed ABC Information these claims have been debunked earlier than and that persevering with to flow into misinformation and disinformation might be harmful.
Donald Trump attends a cupboard assembly on the White Home, in Washington, D.C., October 9, 2025.
Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
“I empathize with people who find themselves turning on the TV, listening to the radio, or scrolling by their cellphone, and so they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, is acetaminophen secure? Is it not?'” mentioned Dr. Alok Patel, a pediatrician at Stanford Kids’s Well being and an ABC Information contributor. “I get it. On the finish of the day. Take a deep breath. Have a look at the science and speak to your physician or well being care skilled. We are going to information you thru it.”
In response to a request for remark, a Division of Well being and Human Companies spokesperson referred ABC Information to a submit Well being Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. wrote on X, accusing the media of attacking him “for one thing I didn’t say so as to distract from the reality of what I did.”
Declare: Amish youngsters haven’t got autism as a result of they do not take acetaminophen
Throughout the September information convention on the White Home, claims have been made concerning the prevalence of autism throughout the Amish neighborhood.
“I feel I can say that there are specific teams of individuals that do not take vaccines and do not take any tablets, that don’t have any autism,” Trump mentioned.
After Kennedy referenced the Amish, Trump continued, “The Amish. Yeah, just about — I heard none … You could have sure teams, the Amish for instance. They’ve basically no autism.”
Later, Trump repeated the declare, saying, “It does not exist with the Amish neighborhood, and so they do not take all of this junk. It does not exist.”
Dr. Alan Shuldiner, a professor on the College of Maryland College of Medication — who has studied the Amish inhabitants in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, for many years — mentioned there have been only a few systematic research of autism within the Amish neighborhood.
One of many solely stories, an abstract from researchers on the College of Miami and Vanderbilt College that was printed in 2010 and offered at a world assembly for autism analysis, checked out autism among the many Amish from Indiana and Ohio.
Researchers estimated that autism in these Amish communities amongst youngsters was about one in 271, which is decrease than the 2022 charge within the U.S. among the many common inhabitants of one in 31.
“It is actually laborious to match prevalence charges,” Schuldiner informed ABC Information. “One in 271 is the quantity they received, however the strategies which can be used to estimate the prevalence of autism within the common inhabitants are fairly completely different, and use of physicians and well being care staff within the two communities are completely different.”
“I might be hesitant to match the one to 271 to any estimate within the common inhabitants,” he continued.
Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, division director in youngster and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia College, informed ABC Information that genetic circumstances might also contribute to the prevalence of autism amongst Amish populations.
For instance, mutations within the CNTNAP2 gene, which performs a job within the growth and performance of the nervous system, have been linked to a predisposition of autism, notably amongst some Amish youngsters.
Members of the Amish Neighborhood move a house in Mechanicsville, MD.
Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Publish by way of Getty Pictures
“There are genetic circumstances that embrace autism, which can be truly extra frequent within the Amish inhabitants, together with a variant within the CNTNAP2, which has been extensively characterised and is related to autism and epilepsy,” he mentioned. “It is basically solely seen within the Amish neighborhood as one instance of how the present administration is tremendously misinformed and has not learn the medical literature.”
Consultants mentioned there’s additionally no proof to recommend Amish folks do not use generic acetaminophen, or Tylenol, as there are not any present research solely analyzing Tylenol use within the Amish.
“When it comes to Tylenol, I can authoritatively say that the Amish positively use Tylenol,” Schuldiner informed ABC Information. “In finding out 10,000 Amish over 30 years, we requested the overwhelming majority of them, ‘What medicines do they take?’ and definitely Tylenol is among the many record of issues that Amish do take.”
He went on, “It is laborious to match whether or not they use extra Tylenol or much less Tylenol than the overall inhabitants, however I can definitely remark that they do use Tylenol.”
Declare: Pregnant ladies are taking unhealthy doses of Tylenol
Rumors have been swirling on social media that there’s a rise in pregnant ladies taking unhealthy doses of acetaminophen to spite the Trump administration after its announcement that use of the drug throughout being pregnant could also be linked to autism.
Throughout the Cupboard assembly on Friday, Kennedy mentioned he was proven a video on TikTok of an eight-month pregnant girl who cursed at Trump and was “gobbling” Tylenol.
One other unverified declare from the founding father of American Frontline Nurses, a bunch that spread misinformation through the COVID-19 pandemic, said a pregnant girl took extreme quantities of Tylenol to show the drug does not trigger autism after Trump’s White Home announcement and subsequently wanted ICU care.
Acetaminophen might be poisonous when ingested in bigger doses than really helpful, with signs, together with belly ache, upset abdomen, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and even seizures. Remedy obtained inside eight hours of an overdose can enhance the percentages of restoration, in response to the National Library of Medicine.
Docs who spoke to ABC Information mentioned they haven’t seen any confirmed accounts, or uptick, of girls taking acetaminophen in excessive doses to make a press release.
“We have no proof to recommend that pregnant ladies are taking extreme quantities of Tylenol, to spite the present administration, or to make some kind of grand assertion concerning the proposed security of Tylenol,” Patel informed ABC Information.
Patel mentioned he has seen movies of pregnant ladies advocating that Tylenol be utilized in sure conditions, reminiscent of for ache or fever.
Tylenol packages are seen in a pharmacy in Houston, Texas, on September 23, 2025.
Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
“Some ladies have taken to social media to say, ‘Hey, I am pregnant, and I’m going to soundly take Tylenol,'” he mentioned. “And it is vital to notice that pregnant ladies have additionally said that they are solely going to take the smallest dose for the shortest interval to deal with their ache or their signs.”
Patel added that Tylenol is the most secure treatment to take throughout being pregnant to deal with ache and fever, and is safer than different medicines, together with ibuprofen or aspirin, each of which may enhance the chance of issues for each the mom and the fetus.
Declare: Younger youngsters should not take Tylenol
Other than advising pregnant ladies to not take acetaminophen as a result of an alleged danger of autism, Trump additionally suggested dad and mom to not give the treatment to their youngsters.
“Do not give Tylenol to your younger youngster for just about any cause.” Trump wrote in a social media submit in September.
Trump repeated the recommendation throughout a Cupboard assembly, stating that after a child is born, “do not give Tylenol, in the event you can keep away from it in any respect, simply do not give it Tylenol.”
A post on Tylenol’s website recommends that youngsters take the product solely with age- and weight-appropriate dosing, following the directions on the label or a health care provider’s steering.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and different medical teams say acetaminophen is secure for youngsters when used appropriately and there are not any research linking its use in youngsters to autism.
Patel mentioned that, whereas docs want to maintain the variety of medicines doubtlessly given to newborns or infants low, there are specific conditions wherein it might be useful.
“There are particular conditions when younger infants have elevated temperatures, they’ve fevers, or they’re in ache, and that is affecting sleep, that is affecting their capability to eat,” Patel mentioned. “They could be getting dehydrated, and in these conditions, it’s truly the safer choice to offer these infants Tylenol.”
Patel mentioned it is vital to verify dad and mom are giving their youngsters a secure weight-based dose, or the smallest quantity that the kid wants for the shortest period of time.
Throughout the Cupboard assembly, Kennedy claimed youngsters who’re circumcised have increased charges of autism, including it is extremely probably as a result of they’re given Tylenol.” Kennedy referenced “two research,” however did not specify which research.
Secretary of Well being and Human Companies Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (3L) speaks throughout a cupboard assembly hosted by Donald Trump (R) within the Cupboard Room of the White Home in Washington, DC, on October 9, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP by way of Getty Pictures
A 2015 Danish study discovered a bump in autism diagnoses amongst circumcised boys, notably in these youthful than age 5, however the authors say the outcomes don’t show causation. The examine additionally didn’t point out Tylenol, acetaminophen or any ache medicines, in response to a post from public well being scientist Jessica Steier.
One other 2013 ecological analysis discovered a correlation in autism prevalence in males and a rustic’s circumcision charge. Though the authors state the info didn’t present “robust proof of causality.”
“We do know that prime fevers [in children are associated with a number of problems and can be associated with seizures can be associated with other complications,” Veenstra-VanderWeele said. “And so, parents of young children should have conversations with their children’s doctor about under what circumstances it makes sense to use Tylenol or other medications to treat fever or pain.”
