US President Donald Trump is expected to say that using Tylenol during pregnancy raises the risk of autism, despite a lack of scientific evidence supporting the link.
The drug, known by the generic name acetaminophen in North America, or paracetamol elsewhere, is the most widely used painkiller in the world, and is considered safe during pregnancy. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr has vowed to find the cause for the growth in autism diagnoses, also blaming vaccines despite strong evidence against that claim.
The acetaminophen link is similarly unfounded: A major 2024 study of 2.5 million children, which compared infants who were exposed to acetaminophen with their siblings who were not, found no increased risk.
