Today's News: Trump and RFK Jr Claim Controversial Link Between Acetaminophen and Autism
Experts generally agree that autism spectrum disorder is a complex, multifactorial neurodevelopmental condition, with genetics playing a significant role.
Photo: Tom Williams/AP
Overview
Date: September 22, 2025
Summary: The Trump administration, led by President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced a controversial link between prenatal acetaminophen (Tylenol) use and an increased risk of autism, despite widespread scientific consensus to the contrary. Simultaneously, the administration promoted leucovorin, a decades-old drug, as a potential treatment for autism symptoms. These announcements have ignited significant debate, with medical experts and the Tylenol manufacturer, Kenvue, disputing the claims regarding acetaminophen and urging caution regarding leucovorin, while acknowledging the ongoing rise in autism diagnoses is largely due to broadened criteria and increased awareness.
Sources
The New York Times - What to Know About Painkillers, Vaccines, Genes and Autism
The New York Times - The Company Behind Tylenol Tries to Navigate Its Latest Crisis
NBC News - Trump claims acetaminophen use during pregnancy may cause autism, without clear proof
The Washington Post - The drug Trump plans to promote for autism shows real (and fragile) hope
The Washington Post - What we know (and don’t know) about autism, according to science
The Wall Street Journal - Trump Warns Pregnant Women to Avoid Tylenol
Fox News - Trump ties autism to widely used over-the-counter drug
Key Points
The Trump administration, led by President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., publicly asserted a link between acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism.
The administration also announced the approval and promotion of leucovorin, a form of vitamin B9, as a potential treatment for autism symptoms, with the FDA expected to update its label.
The scientific and medical communities, including organizations like the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, widely maintain that decades of research have not found a causal link between acetaminophen and autism, and that vaccines do not cause autism.
Experts generally agree that autism spectrum disorder is a complex, multifactorial neurodevelopmental condition, with genetics playing a significant role, and that brain changes associated with autism likely begin before birth.
The rising rates of autism diagnoses are primarily attributed by experts to broadened diagnostic criteria, increased public and medical awareness, and improved screening practices, rather than a single environmental cause.
Kenvue, the manufacturer of Tylenol, firmly refutes any link between acetaminophen and autism, stating that it is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women.
Unique Highlights
The New York Times provided a detailed history of the expansion of autism’s diagnostic definition through various editions of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III, DSM-III-R, DSM-IV, DSM-V), explaining how this contributed to rising diagnoses. It also highlighted a 2024 study of 2.5 million children in Sweden, where the association between acetaminophen and neurodevelopmental disorders disappeared when comparing siblings.
The New York Times detailed Kenvue’s corporate background, including its spin-off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023, its current stock plummeting by 16% then 6% after the announcement, and referenced the 1980s Tylenol tampering crisis as a textbook example of corporate crisis management.
CNN specifically mentioned President Trump advocating for breaking up childhood vaccinations and pushing back the hepatitis B shot for newborns to age 12, citing “too much liquid, too many different things are going into that baby.” It also quoted Dr. Peter Hotez, a pediatrician and parent of a child with autism, emphasizing that “at least 100 genes are involved in autism.”
NBC News reported that the Trump administration had originally planned to release its long-awaited report on autism causes around September 29 or 30, but Trump pre-empted the rollout over the weekend. It also noted that the Autism Science Foundation does not yet recommend leucovorin as a treatment and calls for more studies. The article detailed that the NIH will dedicate $50 million to 13 research projects focused on identifying root causes and treatments for autism.
The Washington Post featured a personal anecdote about Nathaniel Schumann, an 8-year-old nonverbal child who began speaking in full sentences two weeks after starting leucovorin in a clinical trial. It also highlighted Dr. Richard Frye’s research, stating that 67 percent of children in his first study of 44 participants saw improvements in language, and discussed funding challenges for larger trials due to expired drug patents.
The Washington Post provided a comprehensive overview of autism, including the concept of neurodiversity and the strengths often associated with autistic individuals. It detailed that neuroimaging studies show brain changes as early as six months of age in children later diagnosed with autism and cited a 2015 Danish study that found 60 percent of the increase in autism prevalence was due to broadening diagnostic criteria.
The Wall Street Journal uniquely reported that the Federal Register received an “agency letter” asking to withdraw the FDA’s notice regarding leucovorin approval later on Monday, without providing a rationale.
Fox News highlighted President Trump’s characterization of autism as a “horrible, horrible crisis” and his claim that “I think we found an answer to autism.” It also quoted White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt promoting the announcement as a “powerful display” of addressing root causes and championing “gold standard science.”
Contrasting Details
Acetaminophen (Tylenol) and Autism Link:
The Trump administration (CNN, NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News) explicitly stated that acetaminophen use during pregnancy “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism,” with President Trump saying, “Taking Tylenol is not good.” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. indicated the FDA would issue warnings to doctors and initiate a safety label change.
Conversely, a strong consensus from the scientific community and medical groups (The New York Times, CNN, NBC News, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal) disputes this link. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists considers acetaminophen safe for use during pregnancy, and experts cited by The New York Times and NBC News refer to studies, including a large 2024 Swedish sibling study, that found no causal link when controlling for genetic and environmental factors.
Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol (The New York Times, CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News), stated, “independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism” and expressed deep concern over the health risks this poses for expecting mothers who might avoid the safest option for fever or pain.
FDA Action on Leucovorin:
CNN, NBC News, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal all reported that the FDA approved leucovorin for the treatment of autism symptoms or updated its label.
However, The Wall Street Journal uniquely reported a discrepancy: “early Monday the Federal Register received an ‘agency letter’ asking to withdraw the notice” of approval, with no rationale provided by the agency. This suggests a potential reversal or uncertainty in the FDA’s action as the day progressed, which was not covered by other sources.
Cause of Rising Autism Diagnoses:
President Trump and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Fox News, The Washington Post) framed the increase in autism diagnoses as a “crisis” or “epidemic,” with Kennedy pointing to “environmental toxin[s]” as the root cause.
In contrast, experts cited by The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post (What we know), and Fox News largely attribute the rise in diagnoses to broadened diagnostic criteria, increased awareness, and improved screening practices. The New York Times details specific changes in the DSM over decades that expanded the definition of autism.
Scientific Basis of Administration’s Claims:
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt (NBC News, Fox News) touted the administration’s announcement as a “powerful display” embracing “gold standard science.”
Outside autism researchers (NBC News) like Dr. Allison Bryant and Brian K. Lee countered that the administration had not uncovered new evidence and that existing data does not support its claims. NBC News also highlighted that a literature review cited by the administration was criticized for not being rigorously conducted and for cherry-picking studies, noting that its senior author had previously served as a paid expert in a class-action lawsuit whose testimony was excluded for being scientifically unsound.
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