WASHINGTON — Sen. Bill Cassidy, a licensed physician who chairs the Senate committee that oversees health care policy, publicly split with the Trump administration over Monday’s advisory that pregnant women not use Tylenol.
Cassidy (R-La.), who leads the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, argued in a statement that the “preponderance of evidence” shows there is no solid link between the pain reliever and a spike in autism diagnoses, while calling on the Trump administration to release evidence underpinning that conclusion.
“I understand and applaud President Trump’s desire to address this issue and to support HHS [Health and Human Services],” Cassidy wrote on X.
“HHS should release the new data that it has to support this claim,” he added. “The preponderance of evidence shows that this is not the case. The concern is that women will be left with no options to manage pain in pregnancy. We must be compassionate to this problem.”
The president and his top health officials dramatically claimed that acetaminophen, the main ingredient in Tylenol, can lead to a “very increased risk of autism.”
Decades of research and medical understanding had indicated that Tylenol was one of the few safe painkillers to use during pregnancy, since aspirin and ibuprofen are known to have potentially adverse effects on the fetus if taken in higher doses.
Autism affected about one in 31 8-year-olds in the US in 2022, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
By contrast, approximately one in 150 children were diagnosed with the neurological developmental condition in 2000.
Driving the Trump administration’s quest to tackle the rise in autism cases is HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with whom Cassidy has clashed in the past.
Cassidy had begrudgingly voted to confirm Kennedy as HHS secretary earlier this year after openly agonizing over the decision. Since then, the HELP Committee chairman has raised public concerns about some of Kennedy’s statements on vaccines.
Last week, Cassidy oversaw a hearing to investigate the firing of former CDC Director Susan Monarez due to an apparent clash with Kennedy over vaccine policy.
The White House released a fact sheet Monday citing multiple studies which it claimed show “acetaminophen use in pregnant women, especially late in pregnancy, may cause long-term neurological effects in their children.”
One of those studies, which was conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, found that “higher-quality studies are more likely to show a link between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and increased risks of autism and ADHD,” researcher Dr. Diddier Prada claimed.
“Given the widespread use of this medication, even a small increase in risk could have major public health implications,” he added prior to the White House announcement.
Notably, that study was unable to determine any direct link between acetaminophen use and autism in children.
Multiple medical experts have expressed deep apprehension about the White House’s claims.
“Today’s announcement by HHS is not backed by the full body of scientific evidence and dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children,” American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) president Dr. Steven Fleischman said in a statement Monday.
“It is highly unsettling that our federal health agencies are willing to make an announcement that will affect the health and well-being of millions of people without the backing of reliable data.”
Kenvue, the manufacturer of Tylenol, also strongly disputed the Trump administration’s accusations.
“Acetaminophen is the safest pain reliever option for pregnant women as needed throughout their entire pregnancy,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.
“Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives.”
