When President Donald Trump announced last month that Tylenol use during pregnancy could cause autism in children, the claim rippled across the nation. Backed by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the statement contradicted decades of peer-reviewed research and reignited debate about the intersection of politics, science and misinformation.
At Drake University, professors and students are watching that conversation unfold in real time, and some aren’t convinced by the link.
“This isn’t about Tylenol. It’s about trust,” said Rachel Paine Caufield, professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Drake. “We’ve seen a long-term decline in trust toward institutions, politics, education, religion, and now science. COVID-19 made that worse, and figures like Trump and RFK Jr. are taking advantage of it.”
Paine Caufield, who also serves as co-executive director of the Ron and Jane Olson Institute for Public Democracy, said the Tylenol controversy fits into a larger trend of populist politics.
Populist politics frames society as a battle between the working people and the corrupt elite, claiming that the established institutions, including science and government, serve the powerful rather than ordinary individuals.
“Trump and RFK Jr. portray themselves as outsiders questioning the elites,” Paine Caufield said. “That can feel empowering to voters, but when you apply that logic to medicine, it can cause real harm.”
Trump’s comments, first made during a White House briefing and later repeated on Truth Social, advised pregnant women not to take Tylenol “unless necessary.” Trump also claimed that young children should avoid the drug “for virtually any reason.”
However, these warnings contradict guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. All three agencies maintain that acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, is the safest over-the-counter pain reliever for pregnant women when used correctly.
“There’s no legitimate evidence that acetaminophen causes autism,” said John Rovers, professor of Pharmacy and Health Science at Drake. “His approach to that information was completely misleading.”
Rovers added that even the study’s findings were small and inconsistent.
“When researchers controlled for siblings, meaning one pregnancy with Tylenol, one without, the differences vanished. You can’t claim causation when the numbers cancel each other out,” Rovers said.
Systematic reviews, including one in JAMA Pediatrics, also found no direct cause link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism or ADHD.
“There’s no legitimate evidence that acetaminophen causes autism,” said Rovers. “His [Trump’s] approach to the information was completely misleading.”
Rovers emphasized that the concern isn’t just the data itself, but how it’s being presented to the public. “The science they’re pointing to doesn’t hold up,” he said, noting that the study’s lead author, Harvard Public Health Dean Andrea Baccarelli, also served as a paid expert witness in lawsuits against Tylenol’s manufacturers.
According to Rovers, complex science is turned into fear when politicians and activists cherry-pick data like the Tylenol/autism claims, especially given that it would be unethical to do controlled trials on pregnant women.
That fear, Rovers said, has real-world consequences.
“If women stop taking Tylenol out of fear, they’re left with no safe alternative. Ibuprofen and aspirin can be dangerous in pregnancy. So what’s left? Suffer through it? That’s not just misleading, it’s anti-woman,” Rovers said.
For Emmit Paradis, a sophomore in the School of Education at Drake who has autism, the administration’s suggested link between Tylenol and autism isn’t just a matter of science; it’s personal.
“Tylenol or magic witchcraft powers didn’t give me autism,” Paradis said. “I was just born with it.”
He said hearing political leaders frame autism as a condition to “prevent” is deeply hurtful.
“RFK Jr. talks about us like we’re broken,” Paradis said. “That’s not just inaccurate, it’s dehumanizing. Autism isn’t a disease. It’s a neurological difference.”
Paradis added that misinformation like this only deepens stigma.
“When politicians say autism is something to fear, they’re not just spreading lies, they’re spreading ableism,” Paradis said. “Tylenol didn’t give me autism. I was just born with it. Framing autism as something to prevent erases our experiences and misrepresents who we are.”
Rovers agreed, noting that pharmacists across the country are now fielding waves of questions from concerned patients.
“Every pharmacist in America is probably getting the same question right now: ‘Is Tylenol safe?’” Rovers said. “The facts haven’t changed, but the public narrative keeps moving.”
Paine Caufield said that the dynamic reveals something larger about civic life.
“This isn’t just about medicine, it’s about the collapse of shared truth,” Paine Caufield said. “We live in echo chambers where people only trust the voices that confirm their beliefs. And when scientific facts become partisan, democracy itself suffers.”
Back on campus, students and faculty are using the fact-versus-opinion debate as a teachable moment.
“I try to teach students to question how data is presented and consider context before jumping to conclusions,” said Rovers.
For Paradis, that lesson of balancing curiosity and keen rejection of science feels personal.
“Autism isn’t something to fear,” Paradis said. “It’s something to understand. And if our leaders can’t do that, then it’s up to the rest of us to try.”
