Health Secretary RFK Jr. says there’s ‘not sufficient’ proof to show Tylenol causes autism
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Wednesday that he does not have “sufficient” evidence to link Tylenol to autism, more than a month after the White House discouraged the medicine’s use by pregnant women and young children.
Evidence does not show that Kenvue’s pain medicine Tylenol definitively causes autism but that it should still be used cautiously, Kennedy, President Trump’s top health official, told reporters. Last month the president said U.S. health officials would recommend limiting Tylenol’s use.
Kennedy’s unproven claim initially hit shares of Kenvue, which was spun off from Johnson & Johnson in 2023. The claim also prompted pushback from many doctors.
Kenvue has repeatedly defended the pain medicine, saying there is no scientific link to autism and warning that such suggestions could endanger maternal health
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said on Oct. 29 that he does not have “sufficient” evidence to link Tylenol to autism, more than a month after the White House discouraged the medicine’s use by pregnant women and young children.
Evidence does not show that Kenvue’s pain medicine Tylenol definitively causes autism but that it should still be used cautiously, President Donald Trump’s top health official told reporters. Last month, the president said U.S. health officials would recommend limiting Tylenol’s use.
“The causative association… between Tylenol given in pregnancy and the perinatal periods is not sufficient to say it definitely causes autism. But it is very suggestive,” Kennedy told reporters, citing animal, blood and observational studies.
“There should be a cautious approach to it,” he added.
Kennedy’s comments also come one day after the Texas attorney general sued Kenvue, the maker of the medicine also known as acetaminophen and which has been sold widely for decades.
Asked if Kennedy’s latest comments signaled a softening of his stance on the issue, Emily G. Hilliard, Health and Human Services press secretary, said: “It’s the same position the Secretary has had since the beginning.”
In a report on April 15, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2022, 1 in 31 children were diagnosed with autism by age 8 in the United States, an increase from 1 in 36 children in 2020. The prevalence of autism among boys was 1 in 20, and the 2022 rate is five times higher than it was in 2000.
In August, Kennedy said a study on autism he spearheaded in April had found “interventions” that could be causing the neuro-developmental disorder.
A month later, Trump and Kennedy, neither of whom is a doctor, held a press conference in September to specifically warn pregnant women against taking the medication without citing any scientific evidence.
Trump: ‘Don’t take Tylenol’
“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump said repeatedly during a Sept. 22 news conference alongside Kennedy. “Fight like hell not to take it.”
On Oct. 26, as he was en route to Asia, Trump chimed in once again, on Truth Social: “Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON.”
