By Mackenzie Grizzard | Assistant News Editor
In the last few months, President Donald Trump delivered medical advice to the pregnant women of America. At the same time, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. lectured the American people on the inefficacy of vaccines.
Neither Trump nor Kennedy Jr. is a licensed medical professional, and neither has advanced degrees or any degree in a science-related field.
Authority does not always equal accuracy, but unfortunately, it has fooled us. On the stage of American politics, Trump plays all roles, holds the puppet strings in his hand and controls the lights, sounds and stage directions.
When RFK Jr. and Trump announced to the world that acetaminophen consumption by pregnant women is linked to Autism Spectrum Disorder, the war on science intensified. I hate fear-mongering as much as the next person, but we might be in trouble.
People are shouting in every direction. Some reject these Trumped-up claims completely, while others are flushing Tylenol faster than when they were actual cyanide. There’s so much noise, and it’s absolutely on purpose — but let’s get into the facts.
Autism is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects how people learn, behave and communicate with others. According to the CDC, research has not been able to pinpoint one specific cause of ASD, but cites environmental, biological and genetic factors.
Acetaminophen, or paracetamol, is a non-opioid analgesic and the main ingredient in Tylenol, an over-the-counter pain medication manufactured by Kenvue, formerly Johnson & Johnson.
From a pharmacological standpoint, acetaminophen is the only safe pain/fever relief medication for pregnant women, as NSAID medications like ibuprofen have been found to inhibit the production of amniotic fluid, which is crucial for fetal development.
In the press conference, President Trump said one in 10,000 children had autism a few decades ago, and as of recent data, that number has become one in 31. Despite the many other false claims, this statement is accurate. Autism rates among children younger than eight have seen an uptick in recent years, but there’s a reason why he begins the first five minutes of the press conference with this specific statistic before he dives into other claims.
We’re a simple species. Headlines matter, and Trump absolutely knows that.
Over the past two decades, the Autism CARES Act has allocated over $5.2 billion to advance autism research, and the market for autism treatment is estimated at $4.4 billion. That’s a lot of research and a lot of money, which coincidentally lines up with Trump’s timeline of spiking autism rates.
Dr. Kelsey Ragan, coordinator of the Baylor Autism Resource Clinic, said “Research suggests that the rise in autism diagnoses is largely due to improved access and understanding,” Ragan said in an email. “Autism exists on a broader spectrum than people historically thought.”
Trump also cites that rates of autism among the Amish community are essentially zero, because “they don’t have” Tylenol or vaccines. Last time I checked, the Amish community doesn’t get tested in doctor’s offices, so how exactly would autism rates be measured? It’s a classic red herring fallacy, and suddenly, the wool pulled over our eyes is suffocating.
Let me be clear: I’ve cited a lot of science, and so has the Trump administration, but I’m in no position to argue which science is more accurate. Quite frankly, our president isn’t either. But I implore you to read more than just the headlines because you might find an entirely different story painted.
Trump and RFK Jr. cite several scientific studies and institutions about the link between acetaminophen and autism — primarily the Johns Hopkins Birth Cohort Study (2020), the Danish National Birth Cohort and the International Journal of Epidemiology. These are also the studies cited in a class-action lawsuit filed against Tylenol in 2023, which was dismissed in federal court for failing to meet the standard for admissible scientific evidence.
In layman’s terms, the exact same studies Trump is basing his claims on were completely inadmissible in court because they could not prove a causal relationship between acetaminophen and autism.
These studies show an association between high-dose acetaminophen consumption and autism epidemiologically and in animals, but no research proves an actual causal relationship.
Trump also cites the dean of Harvard’s school of public health, the same university he threatened to take research funding from just a few months ago. He also doesn’t cite the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics or the thousands of other scientists who are outspoken in their disagreement. Even autism experts at the CDC weren’t consulted prior to the press conference.
A quote from the British philosopher Bertrand Russell came to mind immediately for me when Trump publicly attacked Tylenol.
“First, they will fascinate the fools, then muzzle the intelligent.”
If there’s one thing Trump does best, it’s fascination. His fanbase cheers for every outrageous claim and swallows every ounce of insightful rhetoric easier than a Tylenol pill itself.
We’re living in an age of information overload, and the loudest, shiniest, exciting and pompous rhetoric wins our attention every time. We’re bored to death by the research papers, scientific conventions and expert lectures, and suddenly, the intelligent are muzzled like rabid dogs, with a cage made from all we never bothered to hear.
They want us to be only headline readers, and most importantly, they don’t want us to ask questions. Education is both a power and a privilege, and when wielded correctly, it can keep us from falling into the now-banned books, warning us of the dangers of totalitarianism.
If you find yourself mesmerized by the eye-catching monologues by red and blue puppeteers, the wool pulled over your eyes was sheared from your very back. Don’t allow yourself to become a pawn in the war against education. Do your own research and ask your own questions — our future depends on it.
