RFK jr claimed over a month ago that this month they were going to find and announce the cause of autism. We all knew he was full of shit — he’s permanently full to the eyebrows with shit — and that this was a political game they were playing, because autism is a multifactorial syndrome with multiple enabling factors, and you’re not going to find a ‘magic bullet’ for it. Well, yesterday the gang of frauds and liars in the White House announced that there was a central link, and that it was acetaminophen, or Tylenol. This is like announcing that the cause is consuming bread — something with a widespread, long-term use that a huge number of pregnant women had eaten. Mothers with autistic children will now think that using a common, well-tested pain reliever is the cause, and blame themselves.
Trump gathered his crack team of worthless quacks to make this announcement.
Speaking from the Oval Office alongside US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, US National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya and US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, Trump did not keep his remarks to Tylenol during pregnancy. (I don’t know who the woman is, I guess no one thinks she’s important enough to name)
Of course Trump tried to take credit for this “discovery”.
It’s
too much liquid, too many different things are going into that baby,Trump said, without providing further evidence.Extensive research has shown that there’s no link between vaccines and autism.
Trump thanked Kennedy for bringing autism to the
forefront of American politics, along with me.Kennedy, a longtime anti-vaccine activist, has promoted discredited theories that vaccines cause autism.
We understood a lot more than a lot of people who studied it,Trump said.
Oh god. All the gullible people who believed him about ivermectin are now going to be telling pregnant women that they just have to suffer through headaches and fevers, all because a group of elected and appointed clowns say so. They presented no evidence for a link between autism and Tylenol, but just blithely charged in and invented one. The studies have been done to show that Tylenol is not a significant factor! Here’s one that looked at 2,480,797 children and found no connection.
Study reveals no causal link between neurodevelopmental disorders and acetaminophen exposure before birth
NIH-funded research in siblings finds previously reported connection is likely due to other underlying factors.Acetaminophen exposure during pregnancy is not linked to the risk of developing autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability, according to a new study of data from more than 2 million children in Sweden. The collaborative research effort by Swedish and American investigators, which appears in JAMA, is the largest of its kind and was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Scientists compared siblings — who share genetics and other variables such as parental health, environmental exposures, and socioeconomic factors — and were able to limit the influence of other potential risk factors. This allowed them to focus specifically on, and eliminate, the risk associated with acetaminophen. The study design was unique due to the size of the population captured in the Swedish Medical Birth Register and the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. Before siblings were considered, there appeared to be a small increase in risk for neurodevelopmental disorders in children exposed to acetaminophen, which was noted in previous studies.
Acetaminophen is commonly used as a pain reliever and fever reducer and is found in a variety of medicines available over the counter and via prescription. It is often taken during pregnancy instead of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, known as NSAIDs, which can cause low levels of amniotic fluid, according to the Food and Drug Administration. The reasons pregnant people might take acetaminophen, including fever, or conditions such as chronic migraine, could be, and in some cases are, associated with an increased risk for later neurodevelopmental disorders following pregnancy.
One limitation of this study is that it relies on data from prescribed acetaminophen and from self-reporting from pregnant people during prenatal care. It may not capture all use or dosage in all people, particularly over-the-counter medicines. However, the number of patients included in the study sample and the ability to control for many other confounding factors support the conclusion that acetaminophen is not directly linked to an increase link of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability.
To inform best preventative strategies, additional research is required to fully understand the genetic and non-genetic factors that increase the risk of autism, ADHD, and intellectual disability.
The effect is simply not there! Because Trump has surrounded himself with incompetent frauds, this claim is going to resonate through society and have multiple deleterious effects on American health. Makary, Bhattacharya, Oz, and RFK jr belong on a list of infamous quacks alongside disgraced “doctor” Andrew Wakefield.
So many questions. Is it the specific brand, Tylenol, or generic acetaminophen? If they’re claiming it’s specifically Tylenol, which is a Johnson & Johnson product, how long before J&J sues the shit out of them? (They’ve got so much shit to loose.) If it’s either Tylenol or generic acetaminophen, and not vaccines, does this mean that Junior is going to lay off the anti-vax thing? That would be one good result because no one, pregnant or not, is going to miss a dose of Tylenol/acetaminophen if they need it.
BTW, I have learned that there are limits to how much Tylenol/acetaminophen you should take. It seems like quite a lot, although sometimes not enough to deal with knee replacement pain post the opioid phase.
But, PZ, that’s Swedish science, not MAGA science. And it was based on over 2 million Swedish babies, not American babies. Anyone with any common sense knows the two aren’t interchangeable. Equating Swedes and Americans is like equating puppies and kittens. The Tylenol connection is ironclad. Now, on to another critical MAGA position: vaccines cause weight gain. Stop vaccinating Americans, and they’ll all be as svelte as ballerinas.
I’ve long side-eyed acetaminophen as it can be toxic. I wouldn’t take it for hangovers.
Nearly 500 people die per year in the US, which I guess isn’t that many in the bigger picture:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441917/
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/politifact/2022/05/03/fact-check-tylenol-killing-at-least-100-000-people-per-year/9612891002/
The blame for autism is knuckledraggingly stupid as is anything coming from these quacks. Ron Johnson has made wild unrelated claims comparing deaths between acetaminophen and ivermectin. I just hope some stupid blueanoners don’t accidentally overdose on acetaminophen in reactance fueled spite. I never take the stuff myself, but strongly doubt it contributes to autism.
I hope this is a teachable moment though to be careful with acetaminophen.
Trump’s Tylenol announcement: What causes autism – and is Cuba autism free?
In theory, pregnant women could take other drugs such as aspirin or Ibuprofen.
Except they shouldn’t.
Aspirin, Ibuprofen, and other NSAIDS aren’t recommended during pregnancy.
In fact, the recommended fever reducer to use during pegnancy due to safety concerns is Tylenol.
It is the same for Ibuprofen.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends avoiding ibuprofen during pregnancy, especially after the 20th week.
So, the Trump regime will recommend against the preferred pregnancy pain reliever and fever reducer Tylenol, leaving these patients with no other good options.
This is medical malpractice.
PSA:
https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002041.htm
Is there a link between Tylenol and getting raptured?
The push-back is already happening. Per this article, Kenvue, J&J’s consumer-health business, are on the rise today after yesterday’s dip from the claim:
This might put a little nuance on my @6, but…:
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/is-acetaminophen-safe-to-take-when-youre-drinking
Strangely enough, we already know what causes autism.
Autism spectrum disorders have a high genetic compoment and not well understood environmental factors also play a role.
The heredibility of ASDs is 80% and it is polygenic, due to around 1,000 genes with small effects acting together.
The environmental contribution isn’t as well understood as of yet.
While RFK’s idea about autism is obviously dangerous pseudoscience, I’m also reminded of Rebecca Watson’s point, “Why I Think Tylenol is Both Dangerous & Useless”
https://skepchick.org/2022/10/why-i-think-tylenol-is-both-dangerous-useless/
Reminds me of good times in the Dark Ages.
In college in the 1970s, some people recommended APC tablets for hangovers and taken at the end of the evening to prevent hangovers. These were Aspirin, Phenacetin, and Caffeine tablets APC, nonprescription.
Phenacetin is no longer available due to kidney toxicity and the current version uses Acetaminophen instead.
The few times I tried it, it didn’t work.
The APC tablets didn’t help and made me feel slightly sick anyway.
The best cure for hangovers is..to not drink too much.
I haven’t had a hangover in many decades.
Ha, I called it! Tylenol came on the market in the mid-50’s and so did Eggos. Yes, Eggos, the frozen breakfast waffle, Leggo My Eggo.
OBVIOUSLY, there is a link between pregnant women eating Eggo and autism. QED.
As for “too much liquid,” What the Actual F???? An injection is something like half a milliliter. (0.5 ml)
Crazy talk! Make it stop!
As I commented on infinite thread: 22 September 2025 at 7:07 pm
I’m so frustrated by all the chaotic crap being thrown at the wall by the magat admin. I’m just waiting for roadkill f#cking kennedy jr. to proclaim eating dead uncooked possums shoveled up off the street prevents autism.
I keep hoping all this is a bad nightmare, but I never wake up from it.
I’m fascinated that aceteminophen allegedly causes something that doesn’t have a fixed definition… and is often diagnosed (and treated!) through symptomology best characterized as “too far away from social norms” (themselves undefined). Application to the prevalence of sociopathic/narcissistic behaviors manifested by the current administration requires further laboratory work, p-hacking, and generous funding from foundations whose endowments are traceable to the slave trade or illicit arms dealing; the evidence for “real-estate development fortunes cause later-generation autism” is at least as strong as that for aceteminophen.
I’m sure it will be Ofdonald soon enough.
Particularly after enough childbearing women die from miscarriages or other preventable pregnancy problems when all abortion is completely outlawed, along with all medications and/or treatments for pregnant women. When enough women of childbearing age die from completely preventable problems and diseases (check out the effect of measles on pregnant women, as an example) the white replacement freaks will really start to lose their shit. Imagine all the entitled incels whining that they can’t get a woman, because in future news, all the childbearing white women will have been forcibly enslaved and kept captive by the “higher status males” the 8chan incel assholes so ardently worship as forced birthers.
@1 You beat me to it. I’m sure J&J lawyers are already sharpening their knives and writing legal briefs even as we speak. J&J has more readily available cash then the entire net worth of the yahoos on stage for this particular shitshow.
Hmm… a 4 year term is just long enough for all the pregnant MAHA & MAGA women to deliver (in some cases anyway) at least some autistic kids… what happens when the MAGA & MAHA fools find out that they’re having autistic kids anyway, despite mainlining ivermectin and eschewing acetaminophen? Nothing nastier and more dangerous than a disillusioned (former) adherent.
How many of them will finally connect the dots between measles and birth defects? The extensively documented birth defects with decades of scientific proof? Oops.
This administration does not seem to score very high on the competence scale.
Channeling Andy Borowitz: I wonder, if I had a headache, would ‘doctor’ tRUMP recommend, ‘take two tylenol and call me in the morning’
I’m starting to think that the war on autism is related to the war on science in an unexpected way; I’ve noticed that a good proportion of scientists are autistic or at least on the spectrum; detail-oriented, task-oriented, capable of a sustained attention span, somewhat obsessive, resistant to social pressure …
Susannah @20 :
please don’t disparage scientists or the autistic community by association with RFK jr. or anyone else in the current administration.
thank you for your attention to this matter
“crack team or worthless quacks”
The Justice Ducks are a five-membered ragtag team of superheroes who protect St. Canard and its surroundings whenever their joint forces are required.
are they cosplaying from the Darkwing Duck series?
seriously tho, can RFK jr be impeached?
#21, I think you are assuming something not in the text.
@3 Hemidactylus
Tylenol is quite safe when you are not overdosing and when you have not already got liver damage. I suspect some people do not read the instructions and act like much helps much.
That’s a problem with a lot of commonly taken medication, e.g. a lot of people will die from nurofen. You can bleed to death of an ulcer if you take too much, too long, got pre-existing aggravating factors, or take parallel medication that interacts with nurofen (or diclofenac, even more dangerous).
Also a portion of these deaths will be down to suicides or tried suicides by people who DO know about the liver toxicity.
@17 silvrhalide
You have a touching faith in human rationality. Let’s see how many believers take today’s non-rapture as an opportunity to rethink their whole approach to reality. Alas, it won’t be many.
The MAGA cult will never be much affected by bad empirical results.
Women dying in childbirth is their plan. Women suffering from pain during childbirth is their plan. The Bible says so near the very beginning of the book (for those of them who can read and will read it). There are several posts here that think that this is a surprise. It isn’t. They have every reason to tell this lie.
WRONG! It’s not Tylenol. It’s the Jews. They have been poisoning the wells again, just like the 14th century.
Also, the eskimos.
@20: …and, as many Christian loonies claim, resistant to communion with God.
@27: Yeah, ‘cuz aren’t the Eskimos descended from the Thirteenth Tribe of Israel? Or is it the Fourteenth?