Autism Science Foundation Statement on White House Announcement

[struggle4progress]

We are deeply concerned by today’s announcements from President Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy suggesting that taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) during pregnancy causes autism, that a medicine derived from folate can be used to treat symptoms of autism, and that vaccines should be broken up over multiple visits and MMR broken into separate shots.

“Any association between acetaminophen and autism is based on limited, conflicting, and inconsistent science and is premature,” said Autism Science Foundation Chief Science Officer Dr. Alycia Halladay. “This claim risks undermining public health while also misleading families who deserve clear, factual information. For many years, RFK and President Trump have shared their belief that vaccines cause autism, but this is also not supported by the science, which has shown no relationship between vaccines and autism.”

“We are unsure why this announcement came today and how the conclusions were drawn,” added Alison Singer, President of the Autism Science Foundation. “No new data or scientific studies were presented or shared. No new studies have been published in the literature. No new presentations on this topic were made at scientific or medical conferences. Instead, President Trump talked about what he thinks and feels without offering scientific evidence. He said “tough it out”, meaning don’t take Tylenol or give it to your child. It took me straight back to when moms were blamed for autism. If you can’t take the pain or deal with a fever, then it’s your fault if your child has autism. That was shocking. Simply shocking.”

“What was said today was dangerous”, added Dr. Halladay. “President Trump and Secretary Kennedy downplayed the complexity of autism and suggested that autism rates would decline if pregnant women stopped taking Tylenol and if parents spaced out childhood vaccines. He claimed there were no downsides to these behaviors, which is inconsistent with longstanding public health practices” ...

https://autismsciencefoundation.org/press_releases/asf-statement-wh-briefing/

[struggle4progress]

1. World health experts reject Trump and RFK Jr.'s claims

By Sara Moniuszko
Edited By Nicole Brown Chau
September 23, 2025 / 12:19 PM EDT / CBS News

... In a statement Tuesday, the European Union's European Medicines Agency said there is currently "no new evidence" that would require changes to the current EU recommendations for use of acetaminophen, also commonly called paracetamol outside the U.S. ...

The United Kingdom's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency said Tuesday, "taking paracetamol during pregnancy remains safe."

In a combined statement, Australia's chief medical officer and the country's medicine regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said they were joining "other global medicines regulators, leading clinicians and scientists worldwide in rejecting claims regarding the use of paracetamol in pregnancy, and the subsequent risk of development of ADHD or autism in children" ...

While sharing a statement from Spain's Ministry of Health that stated paracetamol can be used during pregnancy, the country's minister of health, Mónica García, called out Mr. Trump specifically for misinformation and lack of evidence ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/world-health-experts-trump-tylenol-autism-link/

[struggle4progress]

2. WHO urges caution on autism and acetaminophen claims

... WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic noted “some observational studies” that have suggested a possible association between prenatal exposure to acetaminophen, or paracetamol, and autism, “but evidence remains inconsistent.”

Several studies conducted afterward have “found no such relationship,” he said.

“If the link between acetaminophen and autism were strong, it would likely have been consistently observed across multiple studies,” Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

“This lack of replicability really calls for caution in drawing casual conclusions about the role of acetaminophen in autism,” he added ...

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/who-urges-caution-on-autism-and-acetaminophen-claims-saying-several-studies-found-no-such-relationship

[struggle4progress]

3. Republican senator publicly questions Trump announcement

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana doctor who chairs the Senate health committee, is calling on the Department of Health and Human Services to release any evidence tying acetaminophen use during pregnancy to autism, noting that “the preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case.”

“I understand and applaud President Trump’s desire to address this issue and to support HHS. HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim. The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case,” he wrote Monday on X. “The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem” ...

https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/23/politics/republican-senator-tylenol-autism

[SheltieLover]

4. Kick

[struggle4progress]

5. "Sick to my stomach"

... A fact sheet released alongside the White House briefing cited Bauer's analysis. But she was alarmed by Mr. Trump's comments. If prenatal Tylenol has any association, which it may not, it would help account for only a fraction of cases, she said. Further, research has not deeply examined Tylenol risks in young children, and many rigorous studies refute a link between vaccines and autism.

Bauer worries such statements will cut both ways: People may put themselves at risk to avoid vaccines and Tylenol, the only safe painkiller for use during pregnancy. And she frets that scientists might outright reject her team's measured concerns about Tylenol in a backlash against misleading remarks from Mr. Trump and other members of his "Make America Healthy Again" movement ...

Autism experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were neither consulted for the White House's long-awaited autism announcement nor asked to review a draft of the findings and recommendations, CDC scientists told KFF Health News, which agreed not to identify them because they fear retaliation.

"Typically, we'd be asked to provide information and review the report for accuracy, but we've had absolutely no contact with anyone," one CDC researcher said. "It is very unusual" ...

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-rfk-jr-distort-facts-autism-tylenol-vaccines/

[eppur_se_muova]

6. As if autism researchers and caretakers didn't have enough to deal with already ....

What's next, a clampdown on wheelchairs ? Outlawing blood transfusions (but leeches OK)?