Main medical organizations and scientific teams are reacting to the Trump administration’s assertion on Monday that using acetaminophen throughout being pregnant, the principle ingredient within the drug Tylenol, may be linked to autism, regardless of restricted proof to counsel the affiliation.
Throughout a press convention on the White Home, President Donald Trump stated the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) will start notifying physicians instantly that it’s “strongly recommending that girls restrict Tylenol use throughout being pregnant except medically vital” and that the FDA would replace the label for acetaminophen with enhanced details about the doable hyperlink.
Moreover, Trump and Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. advised the childhood vaccine schedule might contribute to autism, contradicting years of analysis that has discovered no hyperlink between the 2.
Some teams acknowledged that acetaminophen is a protected treatment for pregnant ladies to take and that no research have discovered a direct cause-and-effect between use in being pregnant and autism.
Others stated vaccines have additionally not been discovered to trigger autism and that the vaccine schedule is protected.
On Tylenol
The American School of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) strongly rejected the declare linking acetaminophen in being pregnant to autism, calling it “extremely regarding,” “irresponsible” and “not backed by the total physique of scientific proof.”
The group emphasised that greater than 20 years of analysis present no hyperlink between acetaminophen use throughout being pregnant and autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity dysfunction or mental incapacity, particularly pointing to 2 high-quality research.
Packages of Tylenol are displayed on a shelf at a CVS retailer, September 22, 2025 in Greenbrae, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Photos
“Acetaminophen is likely one of the few choices obtainable to pregnant sufferers to deal with ache and fever, which might be dangerous to pregnant individuals when left untreated,” Dr. Steven J. Fleischman, president of ACOG, stated in an announcement. “Maternal fever, complications as an early signal of preeclampsia, and ache are all managed with the therapeutic use of acetaminophen, making acetaminophen important to the individuals who want it.”
The assertion went on, “The situations individuals use acetaminophen to deal with throughout being pregnant are much more harmful than any theoretical dangers and might create extreme morbidity and mortality for the pregnant particular person and the fetus.”
Equally, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Drugs (SMFM) reiterated a suggestion that acetaminophen is an “acceptable treatment” to deal with ache and fever throughout being pregnant.
The group additionally acknowledged that pregnant individuals face dangers when fever and ache are left untreated.
“You will need to perceive that untreated fever and ache throughout being pregnant carry vital maternal and toddler well being dangers,” SMFM stated in an announcement. “Untreated fever, notably within the first trimester, will increase the chance of miscarriage, beginning defects, and untimely beginning, and untreated ache can result in maternal melancholy, anxiousness, and hypertension.”
On vaccines
Medical teams additionally reacted to claims throughout the press convention that vaccines could trigger autism, regardless of many research over many years discovering no such hyperlink.
Trump advised throughout the press convention that Amish youngsters don’t get vaccines and due to this fact don’t obtain autism diagnoses, regardless of studies that have identified autism in Amish children and that not all Amish children are unvaccinated.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the nation’s main group representing pediatricians, referred to the claims as “harmful” and certain to be complicated for fogeys.
“Research have repeatedly discovered no credible hyperlink between life-saving childhood vaccines and autism,” the group stated in an announcement. “This analysis, in lots of international locations, involving 1000’s of people, has spanned a number of many years. Any effort to misrepresent sound, robust science poses a risk to the well being of kids.”
Trump additionally claimed on Monday that youngsters get too many pictures early in life, seeming to suggest that youngsters’s immune methods get overwhelmed by vaccinations.
Research, similar to a 2018 study involving about 1,000 American children, have discovered that vaccines don’t overwhelm or weaken the immune system and do not make youngsters extra vulnerable to different infections.
“Pediatricians know firsthand that youngsters’s immune methods carry out higher after vaccination in opposition to critical, contagious illnesses like polio, measles, whooping cough and Hepatitis B,” the AAP acknowledged. “Spacing out or delaying vaccines means youngsters is not going to have immunity in opposition to these illnesses at occasions when they’re most in danger.”
President Donald Trump accompanied by Well being and Human Providers Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Meals and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, speaks about autism on the White Home in Washington, Sept. 22, 2025.
Andrew Harnik/Getty Photos
On leucovorin
The Trump administration additionally introduced Monday that it was beginning the approval course of for a drug referred to as leucovorin as a doable therapy for autism.
Leucovorin, which is usually used as a part of most cancers care, has proven early promise in a handful of small research suggesting it might assist the signs of some youngsters with autism, however specialists warning there may be little proof to help these statements.
The Coalition of Autism Scientists released a statement cautioning that it is too quickly to suggest leucovorin as a therapy.
The group stated there are a number of small trials inspecting the drug’s use which can be methodologically weak, use questionable statistical approaches, and don’t justify scientific suggestions.
“The Coalition of Autism Scientists reviewed these research and located that the researchers aren’t utilizing high-quality research designs or statistical evaluation,” the group acknowledged.
The coalition referred to as for a rigorous, large-scale trial with validated biomarkers and pre-registered endpoints. The group additionally reaffirmed that vaccines are protected, play no function in autism and that undermining them endangers public well being. The group referred to as for the Division of Well being and Human Providers to spend money on high-quality, peer-reviewed autism analysis with unbiased oversight.
Moreover, the Autism Society of America (ASA) condemned the White Home for selling what it says are “unfounded” claims about causes and coverings.
The group burdened that autism is a lifelong, advanced situation with no single trigger or treatment, and that untimely claims about acetaminophen or leucovorin ignore many years of rigorous analysis and threat creating false hope and hurt.
ASA stated analysis on high-dose leucovorin continues to be in preliminary phases and that its security have to be understood earlier than it’s endorsed to be used amongst these with autism.
“Asserting a trigger or therapy with out rigorous, replicated science undermines belief and distracts from essential work wanted for the autism neighborhood,” the ASA’s Board of Administrators stated in a statement. “What autistic people and their caregivers want are expanded providers, inclusive insurance policies, and analysis that helps enhance high quality of life.”
ABC Information’ Sony Salzman contributed to this report.
