What happens when pain is felt by those whose job it is to relieve it? When President Trump called for pregnant women to avoid using acetaminophen, Tylenol got the headache.
Flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz Director of the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services, Trump warned of an association between the drug and autism.
Trump’s demand, “Don’t take Tylenol,” was met with a combination of hysteria and derision.
“Firing scientists and researchers and then telling pregnant women to ‘tough it out’ during dangerous health conditions because of unproven theories is not how we will find the cause of autism,” said Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H
If we won’t find the cause of autism by searching for it, how exactly will we find it?
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) joked on X: “I’m not a doctor either, but I’m pretty sure the Trump administration has a serious staff infection.”
He’s also not an economist, foreign policy specialist, or immigration lawyer, yet he claims expertise in these areas, nonetheless.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said: “Let me go ahead and send my thoughts and prayers to all that plan to take their medical advice from someone who I am old enough to remember also told people to inject themselves with bleach. Why is ignorance being elevated while intelligence is being denigrated?”
As a purveyor of ignorance Crockett should be able to answer her own question.
Former Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg chimed in, writing: “The cost of living keeps moving in the wrong direction. The President’s answer? Declare war on Tylenol.”
Isn’t a plea to end autism through reducing a risk factor improving the “cost of living”?
It is worthwhile noting many politicians on both sides of the aisle take money from Big Pharma. According to a 2019 Center for Public Integrity (CPI) report, Big Pharma has been the biggest lobbying industry in Washington, D.C. That study revealed that Big Pharma PACs have spent more than $880 million on lobbying at the state and federal levels since 2006.
Opensecrets.org investigative reporting lists the following politicians as the having received the most money from Big Pharma between the years 1990 and 2024; #1 Kamala Harris $9,136,411, #2 Joe Biden $9,093,884, #3 Barack Obama $6,097,857, #4 Hillary Clinton $4,645,639, #5 Mitt Romney $3,391,214.
According to that same report, thirteen of the top twenty-one recipients of Big Pharma largess were Democrats or Democrat-aligned including, Senator Bernie Sanders ($1,949,772) and disgraced grifter and former Senator Bob Menéndez ($1,471,841) in at number twenty-one.
Senator Hassan also had her hand in Big Pharma’s pill jar. Hassan’s leadership PAC took almost $30,000 from a Big Pharma PAC during the 2018 election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Simply because a politician takes money from a lobbying group doesn’t mean they’ve abandoned all principles, as politicians they never had any principles to abandon. It does mean that talking out of both sides of one’s mouth in politics is both a virtue and a vice.
What is one to believe?
There have been multiple studies on the alleged link between acetaminophen and autism. The results of which are summed up by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine in their statement on the matter; “Despite assertions to the contrary, a thorough review of existing research suggesting a potential link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children has not established a causal relationship.”
It is very important to note that the statement, “has not established a causal relationship” does not mean that a causal relationship might not be established in a subsequent study, nor that there is no link or association between the use of the pain reliever and autism.
The makers of Tylenol had this to say about the controversy, “We recommend pregnant women do not take any over-the-counter medication, including acetaminophen, without talking to their doctor first.”
Don’t gloss over the maker’s statement in which they don’t even address the risk, instead opting for the nebulous suggestion that you “talk” to your doctor first.
All of this is occurring while a new study suggests President Trump’s caution is warranted.
A recent study from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health indicates a link between Tylenol and autism as described by Trump, and yet this is being ignored.
A summary of that study, as published by Science Daily states; “Researchers reviewing 46 studies found evidence linking prenatal acetaminophen (Tylenol) exposure with higher risks of autism and ADHD. The FDA has since urged caution, echoing scientists’ advice that the drug be used only at the lowest effective dose and shortest duration. While important for managing fever and pain in pregnancy, prolonged use may pose risks to fetal development. Experts stress careful medical oversight and further investigation.”
If Joe Biden or Barack Obama had said “don’t take Tylenol”, would the response have been so tilted and fierce? Is it just that anything Trump says must be met with utter condemnation and condescension rather than deliberation and thought?
If it’s possible that the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy increases the risk of autism, then isn’t it prudent to question its use? Because the findings of current studies have yet to find a causal relationship between the two doesn’t mean the connection isn’t possible, only undiscovered.
What isn’t impossible is, by extension of logic, possible.
Tylenol isn’t a villain, nor a monster. It is a medicine whose use should be accompanied with full knowledge of any risks.
Denying those risks because the assertion is made by Trump isn’t wise or considered, it’s political. As we learned from COVID, the world suffers when politics inform medicine, rather than the other way around.
If the Harvard study and Trump are wrong, there is no injury to anyone. If they’re right, lives are fundamentally transformed for the better.
It’s better for Tylenol to feel the pain now rather than another generation of children later.
Stephen Piccirillo © 2025
