The president is wrong on Tylenol

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. The Economist 4 min Read Sept 24, 2025, 07:18 hours, the FDA’s health advice to doctors is also more nuanced and only suggests that doctors reduce the use of the drug during pregnancy. (AP) Summary scientists studying any connection between the painkiller and autism did not reach fixed conclusions “Don’t Take Tylenol”, Donald Trump ordered at a press conference on September 22. His application has just highlighted a link between the use of a general pain-relieving drug Tylenol (acetaminophen)-also known as paracetamol and autism and ADHD. Mr. Trump is sure that the drug for children is dangerous and has few benefits. On both scores he is wrong. Scientists have been investigating the connection between acetaminophen and autism for many years, but made no fixed conclusions. It is common for scientists to find correlations between medical conditions and external factors such as diet and medicine. It is also common for studies to show in different directions. For example, one large -scale study of nearly 200,000 children published in 2024 and funded by America’s National Institutes for Health (NIH) found no connection between autism and acetaminofen use during pregnancy. Others have. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) points to two large -scale cohort studies that found an association: the nurses’ health study II and the Boston Birth Cohort. The latter study looked at fetal exposure to acetaminofen and found that the risks of autism and ADHD increased according to exposure to this medicine – a finding that could indicate a causal link. Finding a mechanism would strengthen the theory. It is known that acetaminofen cross the placental barrier, and some scientists have speculated that it can affect the hormone system, cause tension in cells or affect chemicals of the brain signals. More research is needed and on September 22, the NIH also announced $ 50 million to finance autism research in general. Although the FDA intends to change the labeling of acetaminophen to reflect this association, the agency was also clear that no causal relationship has been established. For example, it may be that women who need pain relief during pregnancy are at greater risk to make a child develop autism for different reasons. The FDA’s health advice to doctors is also more nuanced and only suggests that doctors reduce the use of the medicine during pregnancy. If women do not treat a high fever during pregnancy, it may pose a risk to the child. As the FDA notes, Acetaminophen is the only medicine approved without medicine for use to treat fever during pregnancy. The idea that women should give up pain relief during pregnancy may not fall well. Mr. Trump said they should simply “make it difficult”. Public Health officials would undoubtedly have hoped for a little more nuance in his communication-especially because infections related to fever are also a well-known risk of autism. In a very unusual step, the FDA also announced that it would allow a generic medicine called Leucovorin to treat cerebral folate deficiency (CFD), a neurological condition characterized by low transport of the vitamin folate in the brain. A feature of CFD is that it involves developmental delays with autistic features-like challenges with social communication, sensory processing and repetitive behavior, attacks and coordination. The reaffirmation of a remedy for a new indication like this usually follows an application by a drug firm, followed by clinical trials aimed at determining that new use is safe and effective. However, the FDA has only decided on the basis of a literary analysis, published case reports and data on mechanisms of action that can be marketed to Leucovorin to treat CFD. And the administration now suggests that the medicine may be tempted by the parents of autistic children. Leucovorin is a molecule similar to the vitamin folic acid. An approval for CFD means that a doctor Leucovorin must prescribe “off label” (ie for reasons outside their approved use) in autism. The science of supporting it is minimal but positive. One study followed 80 autistic children and found an improvement in symptoms after using Leucovorin in a blinded, randomized trial. It is believed that the side effects are small. The presidential intervention sheds more heat than light on the state of autism research, and not at all light on the nuanced set of genetic and environmental factors that researchers found in this condition. The press conference also contains a struggling and incoherent tirade from Mr. Trump about giving vaccines in childhood separately. Despite the nature of the president’s comments, many parents of autistic children may be grateful for the focus on the state of health. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #Pharma #Genitstate Read Next Story