Health officials: Tylenol use during pregnancy linked to autism in children
Health officials say the Food and Drug Administration will start immediately notifying physicians to strongly recommend that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary.
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The Trump Administration made a major announcement on Monday, linking Tylenol use during pregnancy to a potential increased risk of autism in children.
Health officials say the Food and Drug Administration will start immediately notifying physicians to strongly recommend that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary.
But local medical experts and autism advocates say they're not sold on the idea just yet.
"The idea that acetaminophen is the cause of autism is incorrect," says Dr. James McPartland of Yale School of Medicine.
Earlier this year, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promised a massive research effort to determine what causes autism.
Critics of Monday's announcement say much more research still needs to be done.
"Tylenol is not the reason," Brita Darany von Regensburg, founder of the nonprofit Friends of Autistic People, says. "I absolutely did not take any medication when I was pregnant. I had a natural childbirth and my daughter just happens to be profoundly autistic and nonverbal. We do not have the cure and it will not be found easily and not fast. It's already 50 years they've been looking for it and they haven't found anything, but we all believe it's a combination of genetic and environmental causes."
The Trump administration also claims the FDA-approved cancer drug Leucovorin could also be used as a possible treatment for autism.
