Trump administration to link Tylenol to autism, WaPo reports

John Tozzi, Bloomberg News on Sep 21, 2025

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Trump administration officials plan to link the active ingredient in Tylenol to autism Monday, the Washington Post reported, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.

Officials plan to warn pregnant women against using the medication, one of the world’s most common, over-the-counter pain relievers, unless they have a fever, the paper said. An earlier report that that the administration was investigating potential links between acetaminophen and autism sent shares of Tylenol-maker Kenvue Inc. sinking.

A Kenvue representative didn’t immediately have a comment Sunday. The company has previously said there’s no causal link between taking acetaminophen during pregnancy and autism.

President Donald Trump said on Sunday he will hold what he called “one of the most important news conferences” he will ever have on Monday regarding autism.

“We think we found an answer to autism,” Trump said during a memorial ceremony for conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “There’s obviously something really wrong, we think we know what that is.”

The Washington Post also said the administration will promote another drug, leucovorin, as a potential autism treatment. Leucovorin is a prescription medication typically used in cancer treatment to counter harmful side effects of other drugs.

In late 2023, a judge rejected the scientific evidence behind the lawsuits alleging prenatal exposure to over-the-counter Tylenol caused autism. U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan concluded that plaintiffs in more than 400 suits against makers and sellers of acetaminophen relied on flawed science in seeking to prove an increased risk of developmental issues in babies.

A subsequent study published in 2024 that analyzed the records of nearly 2.5 million siblings born in Sweden from 1995 through 2019 found no increased risk of autism when their mothers took acetaminophen while pregnant.

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(With assistance from Jennifer A. Dlouhy, María Paula Mijares Torres, Jessica Nix and Madison Muller.)