Since President Donald Trump introduced at a White House news conference three weeks in the past that pregnant girls’s use of Tylenol may increase the danger of autism of their kids, claims in regards to 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 group, as a result of they do not take drugs or get vaccinated.
Moreover, the president repeated a declare he made on social media that younger kids, 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 girls are ingesting poisonous quantities of the drug to make a degree to the administration.
Docs advised ABC Information these claims have been debunked earlier than and that persevering with to flow into misinformation and disinformation may 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 telephone, and so they’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, is acetaminophen secure? Is it not?'” mentioned Dr. Alok Patel, a pediatrician at Stanford Youngsters’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’ll information you thru it.”
In response to a request for remark, a Division of Well being and Human Providers 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 kids haven’t got autism as a result of they do not take acetaminophen
Throughout the September information convention on the White Home, claims had been made in regards to the prevalence of autism inside the Amish group.
“I feel I can say that there are particular teams of individuals that do not take vaccines and do not take any drugs, 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 primarily no autism.”
Later, Trump repeated the declare, saying, “It would not exist with the Amish group, and so they do not take all of this junk. It would not exist.”
Dr. Alan Shuldiner, a professor on the College of Maryland Faculty 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 group.
One of many solely reviews, an abstract from researchers on the College of Miami and Vanderbilt College that was printed in 2010 and introduced at a global assembly for autism analysis, checked out autism among the many Amish from Indiana and Ohio.
Researchers estimated that autism in these Amish communities amongst kids 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 advised ABC Information. “One in 271 is the quantity they bought, however the strategies which might be used to estimate the prevalence of autism within the common inhabitants are fairly completely different, and use of physicians and well being care employees within the two communities are completely different.”
“I’d be hesitant to match the one to 271 to any estimate within the common inhabitants,” he continued.
Dr. Jeremy Veenstra-VanderWeele, division director in baby and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia College, advised ABC Information that genetic situations can also contribute to the prevalence of autism amongst Amish populations.
For instance, mutations within the CNTNAP2 gene, which performs a task within the growth and performance of the nervous system, have been linked to a predisposition of autism, significantly amongst some Amish kids.
Members of the Amish Neighborhood go a house in Mechanicsville, MD.
Sarah L. Voisin/The Washington Put up through Getty Pictures
“There are genetic situations that embody autism, which might be truly extra widespread 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 primarily solely seen within the Amish group 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 individuals do not use generic acetaminophen, or Tylenol, as there aren’t any present research solely inspecting Tylenol use within the Amish.
“By way of Tylenol, I can authoritatively say that the Amish positively use Tylenol,” Schuldiner advised ABC Information. “In finding out 10,000 Amish over 30 years, we requested the overwhelming majority of them, ‘What drugs do they take?’ and positively Tylenol is among the many checklist 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 girls are taking unhealthy doses of Tylenol
Rumors have been swirling on social media that there’s a rise in pregnant girls 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 lady 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 in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, said a pregnant lady took extreme quantities of Tylenol to show the drug would not trigger autism after Trump’s White Home announcement and subsequently wanted ICU care.
Acetaminophen may be poisonous when ingested in bigger doses than advisable, with signs, together with stomach ache, upset abdomen, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and even seizures. Therapy obtained inside eight hours of an overdose can improve the chances of restoration, in line with the National Library of Medicine.
Docs who spoke to ABC Information mentioned they haven’t seen any confirmed accounts, or uptick, of ladies taking acetaminophen in excessive doses to make an announcement.
“We have no proof to recommend that pregnant girls are taking extreme quantities of Tylenol, to spite the present administration, or to make some sort of grand assertion in regards to the proposed security of Tylenol,” Patel advised ABC Information.
Patel mentioned he has seen movies of pregnant girls advocating that Tylenol be utilized in sure conditions, equivalent to for ache or fever.
Tylenol packages are seen in a pharmacy in Houston, Texas, on September 23, 2025.
Ronaldo Schemidt/AFP through Getty Pictures
“Some girls have taken to social media to say, ‘Hey, I am pregnant, and I’m going to securely take Tylenol,'” he mentioned. “And it is vital to notice that pregnant girls 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 remedy to take throughout being pregnant to deal with ache and fever, and is safer than different drugs, together with ibuprofen or aspirin, each of which may improve the danger of problems for each the mom and the fetus.
Declare: Younger kids should not take Tylenol
Except for advising pregnant girls to not take acetaminophen as a consequence of an alleged threat of autism, Trump additionally suggested dad and mom to not give the remedy to their kids.
“Do not give Tylenol to your younger baby 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 kids take the product solely with age- and weight-appropriate dosing, following the directions on the label or a physician’s steering.
The American Academy of Pediatrics and different medical teams say acetaminophen is secure for kids when used appropriately and there aren’t any research linking its use in kids to autism.
Patel mentioned that, whereas medical doctors want to preserve the variety of drugs doubtlessly given to newborns or infants low, there are particular conditions during which 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 skill to eat,” Patel mentioned. “They is likely to be getting dehydrated, and in these conditions, it’s truly the safer choice to present these infants Tylenol.”
Patel mentioned it is vital to verify dad and mom are giving their kids 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 kids who’re circumcised have increased charges of autism, including it is extremely doubtless as a result of they’re given Tylenol.” Kennedy referenced “two research,” however did not specify which research.
Secretary of Well being and Human Providers 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 through Getty Pictures
A 2015 Danish study discovered a bump in autism diagnoses amongst circumcised boys, significantly in these youthful than age 5, however the authors say the outcomes don’t show causation. The research additionally didn’t point out Tylenol, acetaminophen or any ache drugs, in line with 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 “sturdy proof of causality.”
“We do know that top 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.”
