In a surprising reversal, top public health official Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is soft-pedaling his bombshell claims tying autism to Tylenol use by pregnant women.
During a press conference Wednesday, Kennedy noted there is not enough data to establish a causal link, the Hill reported.
“We’ve all said from the beginning that the causative association between Tylenol given in pregnancy … is not sufficient to say it definitely caused autism, but it is very suggestive,” Kennedy said.
“And so there should be a cautious approach to it, and that’s why our message to patients, to mothers, to people who are pregnant, the mothers of young children, is consult your physician, and we have asked physicians to minimize the use to one that’s absolutely necessary,” Kennedy added.
The controversial Health Secretary has come under fire for a number of unorthodox and unproven health claims.
In September, Trump and Kennedy held a White House press conference where they urged pregnant women to be cautious of Tylenol, with Trump telling mothers to "tough it out" unless absolutely necessary.
The Tylenol claims brought furious backlash from the medical community, with critics accusing Trump and Kennedy of sowing confusion among parents.
At a Cabinet meeting earlier this month, Kennedy suggested Tylenol use after circumcision could "double" the rate of autism in boys.
“There’s two studies which show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they were given Tylenol,” he said.
Kennedy later accused the mainstream media of distorting his comments by making it sound like he was tying circumcision itself to autism, when he pointed to the use of Tylenol after the procedure. But one of the studies Kennedy cited, a controversial 2015 paper from Denmark, did not have data on what medications were used for pain management. The authors found a slight correlation between autism and circumcision and pointed to the stress of the procedure as a potential mechanism.
As usual, the mainstream media attacks me for something I didn’t say in order to distract from the truth of what I did say.
At yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, I said: “There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism, and it’s highly…
— Secretary Kennedy (@SecKennedy) October 10, 2025
In recent weeks, Trump has continued to give out highly specific medical advice that echoes Kennedy's skepticism of vaccines and other pharmaceuticals.
“Pregnant Women, DON’T USE TYLENOL UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY, DON’T GIVE TYLENOL TO YOUR YOUNG CHILD FOR VIRTUALLY ANY REASON, BREAK UP THE MMR SHOT INTO THREE TOTALLY SEPARATE SHOTS (NOT MIXED!), TAKE CHICKEN P SHOT SEPARATELY, TAKE HEPATITAS B SHOT AT 12 YEARS OLD, OR OLDER, AND, IMPORTANTLY, TAKE VACCINE IN 5 SEPARATE MEDICAL VISITS! President DJT,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday.
While there is some evidence linking Tylenol and autism, Trump's remarks have been more definitive than the cautious statements of his health officials.
"To be clear, while an association between acetaminophen and autism has been described in many studies, a causal relationship has not been established and there are contrary studies in the scientific literature," the FDA wrote in September.
