(AFP) – US President Donald Trump was expected Monday to deliver what the White House called “an announcement” about autism, having long voiced concern about the condition’s prevalence and potential causes. It was widely anticipated that Trump, along with federal health officials, will raise concerns surrounding acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, and possible complications of using it during pregnancy.
Identifying the cause of autism — a complex condition connected to brain development that many experts believe occurs for predominantly genetic reasons — has been a pet cause of Trump’s controversial health chief, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Earlier this year, the head of the US health department — well-known for his anti-vaccine views and penchant for conspiracy theories — vowed he would release findings regarding autism’s cause by September 2025. Trump teased the forthcoming announcement, scheduled for 4 pm local time, as “one of the most important news conferences I’ll ever have.”
“I think we found an answer to autism, how about that?” he said, speaking to a huge crowd at the memorial of Charlie Kirk, the slain right-wing activist. The administration’s recent initiative to uncover autism’s roots has been widely criticized, not least due to reports that the health department hired vaccine skeptic and de-licensed physician David Geier to lead the charge. The Trump government’s expected focus on Tylenol is also likely to meet broad critique. For decades, acetaminophen has been considered the safest option for pain relief and fever reduction during pregnancy. Another common over-the-counter pain reliever, ibuprofen, is generally considered unsafe for pregnant people, especially after the 20th week.
– ‘Nuanced and uncertain’ –
A literature review published last month concluded there was reason to believe a possible link between Tylenol exposure and autism existed — but other studies have found an opposite result. Researchers behind the August report cautioned that more study is needed and that pregnant people should not stop taking medication without consulting their doctors. “Untreated pain or fever can also harm the baby,” said co-author Diddier Prada, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, at that time.
David Mandell, a psychiatric epidemiologist at the University of Pennsylvania, told AFP that research suggests the possible risks posed by taking Tylenol while pregnant seem “to be lower than the risk of having an uncontrolled infection during pregnancy.” The professor of psychiatry also emphasized that digging into the interaction of genetic and environmental factors is an area of critical research, but that to take on those studies with rigor demands decades of study and funding. “They said it was going to happen by September. And so there’s an incredible like, pressure and urgency to come up with something,” he said of the administration’s push. That’s led to a “cherry-picked” justification of pre-formed conclusions rather than “an honest appraisal of the data,” he added.
Ahead of the White House announcement, the Coalition of Autism Scientists echoed those concerns. “It is highly irresponsible and potentially dangerous to claim links between potential exposures and autism when the science is far more nuanced and uncertain,” the group said in a statement. “Secretary Kennedy’s announcement will cause confusion and fear. He seems to be cherry-picking old data rather than looking at the body of research as a whole.”
– Marisha Goldhamer, with Maggy Donaldson in New York
© 2024 AFP
