By Jen Christensen, Katherine Dillinger, Meg Tirrell, NCS
(NCS) — President Donald Trump introduced Monday that the US Food and Drug Administration might be notifying physicians that the use of acetaminophen during being pregnant “can be associated with a very increased risk of autism,” despite decades of evidence that it’s safe.
“They are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary,” resembling to deal with fever, “if you can’t tough it out,” Trump stated.
Experts say autism is attributable to a number of elements, and the science regarding the connection between Tylenol use during being pregnant and autism just isn’t settled.
Tylenol has been thought-about the one safe over-the-counter possibility for ache or fever for pregnant folks. Other widespread ache reduction choices like ibuprofen or regular-dose aspirin can improve the danger of severe issues during being pregnant. Not treating a fever will also be harmful for each the fetus and the pregnant individual.
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 didn’t maintain his remarks to Tylenol during being pregnant. He advocated for breaking apart childhood vaccinations and even pushing again the hepatitis B shot for newborns — a public well being technique that introduced the an infection in youngsters to the brink of elimination — to age 12.
It’s “too much liquid, too many different things are going into that baby,” Trump stated with out offering additional evidence.
Extensive analysis has proven that there’s no hyperlink 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 trigger autism.
“We understood a lot more than a lot of people who studied it,” Trump stated.
Tylenol maker Kenvue stated earlier this month that it had engaged in a “scientific exchange” on the difficulty with HHS officers, and urged pregnant ladies to converse with their well being care supplier earlier than taking any over-the-counter medicine.
“Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy,” the corporate stated in an announcement Sunday. “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 facts are that 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. We stand with the many public health and medical professionals who have reviewed this science and agree.”
Oz stated the FDA is approving prescription leucovorin — a high-dose calcium folinic acid usually used to deal with most cancers sufferers during chemotherapy — for therapy of autistic youngsters.
The FDA can also be restoring the previously withdrawn approval of Wellcovorin, a branded model of leucovorin made by GSK, in accordance to a put up on the Federal Register.
The FDA requested GSK to file a brand new software to add information on cerebral folate deficiency (CFD), a situation in which there’s a low stage of folate within the cerebrospinal fluid, the fluid that surrounds the spinal wire and mind.
The quantity of folks recognized with autism has been rising. About 1 in 31 youngsters had been recognized with autism spectrum dysfunction by age 8 in 2022, up from 1 in 36 in 2020, in accordance to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2015, it was 1 in 68 youngsters.
Experts imagine there are a couple of causes for this improve. The psychiatric group broadened its definition of autism in 2013, and there was rising consciousness of signs and acceptance of the analysis, so mother and father aren’t as reluctant to search assist. There’s additionally been a concerted effort to display screen extra younger youngsters for autism since early intervention can significantly improve a baby’s signs and expertise long-term.
Experts say the trigger of autism is multifactorial.
Just as there are a number of genes concerned in numerous cancers, at the very least 100 genes are concerned in autism, in accordance to Dr. Peter Hotez, a pediatrician who co-directs the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital. Claiming that there’s one “smoking gun” that may remedy and even trigger autism can be irresponsible, he stated
“So for every different autism gene, there’s really a different form of autism, and it’s unlikely that a single unifying chemical agent is going to be able to address even a small proportion of those 100-plus autism genes,” Hotez, who has a daughter with autism and has written a e-book concerning the situation, advised NCS on Monday.
“Look, I say this as the parent of a child with autism: You want a simple answer, right? But what is so clear is that there is not always a simple answer,” he stated. “There are so many things to consider, and it is very hard to pin down.”
This is a breaking information story and might be up to date.
The-NCS-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.