Trump's comments on Tylenol during pregnancy draw backlash from medical experts
Published: 24 Sep. 2025, 10:57
![Tylenol is displayed for sale at a pharmacy in New York City, New York, on Sept. 5. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/24/6b3f717d-2f7d-45e5-aa7d-8c161b772f67.jpg)
Tylenol is displayed for sale at a pharmacy in New York City, New York, on Sept. 5. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Feverish and pregnant, one Korean woman turned to an online parenting forum with a desperate question: “Can I take Tylenol, or will it hurt my baby?” Another mother wrote, “I took Tylenol when I was expecting — now I can’t stop wondering if that’s why my child has autism.”
Panic erupted after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed during a press conference on Monday that taking Tylenol, or acetaminophen, during pregnancy could increase the risk of autism — a statement that has since been met with sharp criticism from medical experts in both the United States and Korea, who say there is no solid scientific basis for the claim.
Trump said he would strongly urge the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to recommend restricting the use of the drug unless medically necessary — such as in cases of high fever — and cited government statistics showing a 400 percent increase in autism diagnoses since 2000.
The FDA responded by launching efforts to revise acetaminophen labeling to reflect the alleged risk, and began distributing related guidance to physicians.
But both the U.S. and Korean medical communities quickly pushed back, saying there is no conclusive scientific evidence to support the claim.
Kenvue, the maker of Tylenol, rejected Trump’s assertion.
“We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism,” Melissa Witt, a spokesperson for Kenvue, said in a statement on Monday.
Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also said it would request further documentation from the company and review the scientific basis before issuing any new guidance.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued a strong rebuke shortly after Trump’s remarks, calling them “highly concerning,” “irresponsible” and “not backed by the full body of scientific evidence.”
It added that acetaminophen is “one of the few options available to pregnant patients to treat pain and fever, which can be harmful to pregnant people when left untreated.”
![U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement linking autism to childhood vaccines and to the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children, claims which are not backed by decades of science, at the White House, in Washington, on Sept. 22. [REUTERS/YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/24/545434de-89ee-4aa7-99c8-25b9ce1fdcb1.jpg)
U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement linking autism to childhood vaccines and to the use of popular pain medication Tylenol for pregnant women and children, claims which are not backed by decades of science, at the White House, in Washington, on Sept. 22. [REUTERS/YONHAP]
Scientific journal Nature also highlighted research that contradicts Trump’s statement. A Swedish team studying 2.48 million children born between 1995 and 2019 found autism diagnoses in 1.42 percent of those exposed to acetaminophen during pregnancy, compared to 1.33 percent in those who were not — a statistically insignificant difference.
A review by researchers at Mount Sinai and Harvard of 46 related studies found that while 27 suggested a positive correlation between acetaminophen and autism, the rest showed no link or even a potential protective effect.
“Based on what we know so far, Tylenol is one of the safest medications for use during pregnancy,” said Park Joong-shin, president of the Korean Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine and an OB-GYN at Seoul National University Hospital. “There’s no clearly proven causal relationship with autism. Using it at the minimum effective dose, when truly necessary, is not considered highly risky.”
The FDA also noted that some studies have shown no connection between acetaminophen use and autism, and warned that failing to treat fever during pregnancy could pose serious health risks to both the mother and fetus.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY NAM SOO-HYOUN,CHAE HYE-SEON,HA SU-YOUNG [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)