President Donald Trump on Friday intensified his campaign against Tylenol to include young kids, posting on his Truth Social that parents shouldn’t give children the drug “for virtually any reason” without providing scientific evidence for the claim.
Tylenol — and the active ingredient acetaminophen — is safe for young children to use to treat fevers, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children under 12 weeks old should not be given acetaminophen unless directed by a doctor, the AAP said.
Trump’s latest broadside extends his attack against the household drug that he began on Monday by launching into a tirade at a press conference about the medication. Tylenol is recommended during pregnancy to treat fevers and pains rather than ibuprofen or aspirin. Trump was joined at the event by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and amplified the unproven link between Tylenol usage and autism. The president told pregnant people to “tough it out” rather than take the drug.
“Don’t take Tylenol. Don’t give Tylenol to the baby after the baby is born,” Trump said.
The announcement was the latest example of Kennedy and Trump upending US health guidance and sparked confusion from patients and doctors. Tylenol-maker Kenvue Inc. said that “independent, sound science” shows the drug doesn’t cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children. The existing research doesn’t show acetaminophen causes autism. A broad 2024 study of 2.4 million Swedish siblings found no increased risk of autism when their mothers took acetaminophen while pregnant.
Autism rates in the US have increased. A study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found 1 in 31 8-year-olds were diagnosed with autism in 2022. That’s up from 1 in 36 in 2020.
Trump’s Truth Social post also reiterated his previous call to break up the measles, mumps and rubella shot into separate shots and delay taking the hepatitis B shot until a child is older, rather than the current recommendation of giving a baby the vaccine within 24 hours of birth.
The hepatitis B birth dose has been a target of the anti-vaccine movement. The AAP says the early dose is critical to prevent chronic hepatitis B later in life. On Sept. 19, the CDC’s influential vaccine panel delayed a vote on whether the vaccine should be given later in life because the members wanted more time to review the evidence.
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