U.S. President Donald Trump sparked major controversy after declaring over the weekend that “we have an answer to autism and we will not allow it to happen again,” comments that he later expanded on during a press conference described as a “major announcement.” According to the president, experts from the Department of Health and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had allegedly concluded, after reviewing several clinical studies, that taking paracetamol during pregnancy could increase the risk of autism in children.
For this reason, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, speaking alongside Trump, announced that the FDA would issue a warning to U.S. doctors regarding the use of paracetamol in pregnant women. Trump insisted that the use of Tylenol, the most common paracetamol brand in the United States, should be restricted only to cases of extremely high fever and always under medical supervision, calling it “very dangerous” for pregnant women. His remarks, however, grew even more controversial when he inaccurately claimed that “there are zero cases of autism” among the Amish community and none in Cuba either.
Medical studies have, in fact, documented autism spectrum disorders among the Amish, often linked to genetic conditions, while in Cuba cases are present, though public reporting is less extensive than in the U.S. Cuban parents and NGOs have shared testimonies of living with autistic children, contradicting the president’s statement. Pharmaceutical company Kenvue, manufacturer of Tylenol, was shaken weeks earlier when Secretary Robert F. Kennedy preemptively referred to these supposed findings, alarming the public before any official review was published.
Nonetheless, many international experts have questioned the White House’s claims. “Neurodevelopmental disorders are multifactorial and extremely difficult to link to a single cause,” explained Christopher Zahn of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), stressing that there is no conclusive scientific evidence tying paracetamol use in pregnancy to autism. Rather than closing the debate, the president’s announcement has opened a new front of controversy within the medical and scientific community, which urges caution and rigor before drawing definitive conclusions.
