In a highly controversial announcement Monday, former President Donald Trump asserted that the use of Tylenol during pregnancy can lead to autism, sparking immediate concern from the medical and scientific communities. The claims came during a press conference alongside Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Dr. Mehmet Oz, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Trump linked the rising rates of autism to what he described as “artificial” exposures, citing Tylenol use among pregnant women. “There’s something artificial, they’re taking something,” Trump said, pointing to the absence of autism in communities like the Amish and in countries such as Cuba, which he claimed do not use Tylenol extensively. “Taking Tylenol is not good,” he stated. The former president added that the Food and Drug Administration would no longer recommend Tylenol during pregnancy except in cases where women “can’t tough it out.”

“Ideally you don’t take it at all,” he said. “With Tylenol, don’t take it.” Trump went further, advising against the use of Tylenol for children and repeating that autism is “artificially induced.”

Medical experts strongly disagreed with the claims. Dr. Karam Radwan, director of the Neurodevelopmental Clinic at UChicago Medicine, emphasized the long history of Tylenol use and its safety record. “People have been taking Tylenol since 1960, and there’s a very long history of safety here,” Radwan told reporters.

The claims Trump cited appear to be based on a study published in Environmental Health in August, which analyzed previous research on prenatal acetaminophen exposure. While the study suggested a “positive association” between acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism, the authors explicitly stated that they “cannot establish causation for any single exposure.”

Radwan explained that extensive Tylenol use during pregnancy may reflect underlying conditions such as infection, inflammation, or autoimmune issues, which could themselves contribute to developmental risks. “That doesn’t mean the Tylenol is the cause,” he said. “The cause could be the reason why you’re taking Tylenol.”

Kennedy, who has previously claimed he would identify the cause of autism by September, has drawn scrutiny for his controversial approach to neurodevelopmental disorders. He has promoted scientifically debunked claims linking vaccines to autism and suggested in April that people with autism “will never pay taxes, they’ll never hold a job, they’ll never play baseball.” At Monday’s press conference, he also announced plans for a national autism registry using private medical records, a proposal that has alarmed privacy and ethics experts.

Trump had teased the announcement the previous day during a memorial for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, stating, “I think we found an answer to autism” and promising that his administration “won’t let it happen anymore,” calling the forthcoming announcement “one of the biggest announcements, medically, in the history of our country.”

Tylenol’s parent company, Kenvue, responded in a statement defending the safety of acetaminophen during pregnancy. “We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers,” the company said.

The statement emphasized that acetaminophen remains the safest pain relief option during pregnancy. “Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives,” the spokesperson said. “Over a decade of rigorous research, endorsed by leading medical professionals and global health regulators, confirms there is no credible evidence linking acetaminophen to autism.”

Kenvue concluded by reiterating its commitment to public health: “We stand with the many public health and medical professionals who have reviewed this science and agree. We will continue to explore all options to protect the health interests of American women and children.”