Was the president’s warning on Tylenol irresponsible?

Was the president’s warning on Tylenol irresponsible?

Was the president’s warning on Tylenol irresponsible? Maybe and maybe not. If it was irresponsible, it was in the way the message was conveyed. The president said that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will begin notifying physicians immediately that it is “strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy unless medically necessary” and that the FDA would update the label for acetaminophen with enhanced information about the possible link. All well and good. That statement sounds reasonable to me.

What was irresponsible was what else that the president said at the news conference. “If you’re pregnant, don’t take Tylenol, and don’t give it to the baby after the baby is born. There are certain groups of people that don’t take vaccines and don’t take any pills that have no autism. They pump so much stuff into those beautiful little babies, it’s a disgrace.” The president then told women to “tough it out” rather than take Tylenol for fever or pain during pregnancy. The president said that “taking Tylenol is not good. All right, I’ll say it. It’s not good.” “Don’t take Tylenol. Don’t take it. Fight like hell not to take it.”

Pardon me if I think that those statements are a bit overboard. It gives the impression that researchers are certain that there is a causal link between taking acetaminophen during pregnancy and autism in newborn babies. There is no such definitive link found in the research. In fact, one large scale study in Sweden of two million children ruled out the relationship. However, others have not and have been cautious in their conclusions.

The mainstream medical groups have expressed alarm at the president’s statements saying that that acetaminophen is a safe medication for pregnant women to take and that no studies have found a direct cause-and-effect between use in pregnancy and autism. For instance, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists stated that asserting a relationship between acetaminophen in pregnancy to autism is “highly concerning,” “irresponsible” and “not backed by the full body of scientific evidence.”

The president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said “Acetaminophen is one of the few options available to pregnant patients to treat pain and fever, which can be harmful to pregnant people (pregnant people?) when left untreated. Maternal fever, headaches as an early sign of preeclampsia, and pain are all managed with the therapeutic use of acetaminophen, making acetaminophen essential to the people (people?) who need it. The conditions people use acetaminophen to treat during pregnancy are far more dangerous than any theoretical risks and can create severe morbidity and mortality for the pregnant person (pregnant person?) and the fetus (baby?).” (Note: It is a bit disconcerting that the president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists apparently doesn’t know what a woman is.)

One group of researchers published an analysis of 46 previous studies on Tylenol, autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Many found no link between the drug and the conditions, while a few suggested Tylenol might occasionally exacerbate other potential causes of autism such as genetics. The authors called for more judicious use of the drug. Yet even the research that found a link with prenatal Tylenol say that it would occur in on a fraction of the cases.

It is interesting that autism experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were neither consulted for the president’s announcement nor asked to review a draft of the findings and recommendations.

A White House spokesman said “President Trump pledged to address America’s alarming rising rate of autism, and to do so with Gold Standard Science.” Yet there is considerable controversy as to whether there an “alarming rising rate of autism” although it seems so. In the 1970s, autism was considered rare, perhaps 1 in 5,000 to 10,000 children. In 2000, an estimated one in 150 children aged 8 had the disorder. By 2010, that number had risen to one in 68 and by 2022 it was one in 31. However, the diagnosis of autism has changed. Once those with autism were “missed, misdiagnosed or labeled differently” say doctors. One expert says that over time, as awareness has grown, diagnostic definitions have expanded and screening has became more routine. So it’s not a surprise to see more autism diagnoses. The biggest misconception is that rising numbers mean autism itself is suddenly becoming more common. That’s scary to some people, but there does not appear to be new autism ‘epidemic.” 

So who to believe? The president, the medical establishment, your doctor or the researchers? To recap. The president says with certainty Tylenol causes autism in children. The medical establishment says it isn’t so. The researchers seem to say that if there is a link, it is a statistically small one. In that light, it depends on the severity of the mother’s (er, pregnant person’s) symptoms and the dosage of Tylenol given. I haven’t a clue as to what the doctors will do. I know some that write a prescription for every ailment and others that don’t.

So the jury’s out but expect to see the number of lawsuits rising dramatically as the tort attorneys are licking their chops. One would have expected to see the shares of Renvue (the maker of Tylenol that was spun off from Johnson and Johnson) to tank. And yes, there was a sell off but only by 7 percent and 60 percent of that decline was made up the following day. So apparently, the market must think that the risk of a massive settlement is low and that Renvue will only have to put warning labels on Tylenol. I presume this is true for all the generics as well.

Lastly, did you see the stories of pregnant women “guzzling” Tylenol in defiance of Trump? The Daily Mail reports several women have gone viral on social media posting videos of themselves taking Tylenol in protest. ‘Here’s me, a PREGNANT woman, taking TYLENOL because I believe in science and not someone who has no medical background,’ one woman wrote over a video of herself taking the pill and dancing. (Note that the woman refers to herself as a “woman”). Another woman said “About to take Tylenol for my headache while pregnant, because I don’t take my medical advice from a man who doesn’t have a degree in science, healthcare, or medicine, and who had a parasitic brain infection. Yeah, I’ll trust my doctors, who have a degree.” One advisor to RFK jr was exasperated saying “Democrats are now chugging bottles of Tylenol on TikTok.” Even women outside the US are protesting the president. One Brit who is 36 weeks pregnant said “I do not believe for one second that Tylenol causes autism, these claims have been debunked before and Trump has given no scientific evidence to back up his claims. I am from the UK and our NHS guidance still stands that Tylenol/ Paracetamol is the safest form of pain medication during pregnancy.” Yikes! With their track record, would you trust the NHS?

TDS knows no boundaries or borders.