The Trump administration linked Tylenol to autism and urged pregnant women to avoid the common pain m
edication despite the lack of widely accepted scientific evidence supporting the risk.
“So taking Tylenol is not good — I'll say it — it's not good. For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless
medically necessary,” President Donald Trump said Monday at a White House event alongside Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his health secretary.
The administration also said it has initiated approval of leucovorin calcium tablets as a new treatment for a condition associated with autism. The drug, also no
wn as folinic acid, is currently used to treat side effects of certain cancer drugs and anemia.
Monday’s announcement was the latest example of how Kennedy and Trump have sought to upend health guidance a
nd practices, sometimes rely on cherry-picked evidence. Trump also has a record of promoting unfounded medical theories.
The White House didn't present new evidence to explain the father
listen. Decades of research into autism have failed to identify a single cause.
Trump went far beyond his public health officials in decrying the effe
cts of acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, says the drug should only be taken by pregnant women in cases of extremely high fever.
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“If you can’t tough it out, if you can’t do it, that’s what you’re going to have to do – you’ll take a Tylenol, but it’ll be okay.”
ry sparingly,” Trump said.
Shares of Kenvue Inc., which makes Tylenol, rose as much as 6.7% in
premarket trading on Tuesday, rebounding after slumping about 7.5% on Monday.
“We believe independently, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism,” Kenvue said in an emailed statement. “We strongly disagree
ree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned about the health risks and confusing this poses for expecting mothers and parents.”
Tylenol is the company’s largest brand, making up a mid-to-high single digit percentage of Kenvue’s total sales, according to Morningstar analyst Keonhee Kim.
Vaccines for Children
Trump used the event to also criticize vaccine policies for children, suggesting that schedules for shots should be spread out. Trump said he believes children s
hould not be administered shots that address multiple diseases, and said he thought vaccines — such as the one fo
r measles, mumps and rubella, which has been given for more than five decades — should be taken over a long period of time.
"On the vaccines, it would be good, instead of one visit, where they pump the baby, load it up with stuff. You'll do it over a period of four times or five times," Trump said.
d. Kennedy has long expressed concerns about the fact that children take more vaccines now than they did in the mid-1980s.