President Trump plans to announce Monday that using Tylenol while pregnant could potentially raise the risk of developing autism, sources told The Post.
The Trump administration is expected to start advising pregnant women against using the over-the-counter pain medication unless they have high fevers, those familiar with the announcement said.
Officials are also slated to reveal efforts to explore using leucovorin — a drug used for cancer and anemia — to treat those with autism, the sources added.
Leucovorin, a form of vitamin B9 or folinic acid, is a high-dose prescription drug. Research has shown that children with low cerebral folate levels sometimes have neurodevelopmental disorders, but doctors have pointed out that a one-stop solution to autism doesn’t exist.
“If you’re going to the doctor and looking for an autism pill, it doesn’t exist,” Dr. Richard Frye, a pediatric neurologist researching leucovorin as a potential autism treatment, told The Post in March. “But leucovorin has helped a lot of children.”
“It doesn’t address the root cause of autism and what is happening in the brain,” developmental-behavioral functional neurologist Robert Melillo also told The Post.
“Every few years, there is one thing like this that people latch onto, but there is no one magic bullet.”
Trump has been touting a looming announcement tied to the neurological condition for several days.
“I think we found an answer to autism,” he said on Sunday during a speech at conservative influencer Charlie Kirk’s funeral.
“I think it’s going to be one of the most important news conferences I’ll ever have, and I look so forward to it.”
Autism affected about one in 31 8-year-olds in the US in 2022, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
That’s a sharp uptick from 2000, when roughly one in 150 children were diagnosed with the neurological developmental condition.
The announcement will mark the first time the US government has linked acetaminophen to autism. Tylenol is the brand name for acetaminophen. The medication has been popular since it became over-the-counter around the early 1960s.
It wasn’t immediately clear what research the administration will cite.
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai dropped a study last month that showed prenatal exposure to the pain relief medication could potentially increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism and ADHD in children.
“Our findings show that higher-quality studies are more likely to show a link between prenatal acetaminophen exposure and increased risks of autism and ADHD,” Dr Diddier Prada, one of the researchers, said at the time.
“Given the widespread use of this medication, even a small increase in risk could have major public health implications.”
The study did not determine that acetaminophen use could directly cause neurodevelopmental disorders in kids.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long vowed to make autism a priority and last month teased an upcoming report on the disorder.
“We are using gold-standard science to get to the bottom of America’s unprecedented rise in autism rates,” a Health and Human Services spokesperson said at the time.
Rumors had swirled for weeks that Kennedy planned to tie the sharp national rise in autism to Tylenol, leading some medical experts to voice skepticism about the link.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) claimed that Tylenol is safe for use during pregnancy when taken in moderation.
“Acetaminophen remains a safe, trusted option for pain relief during pregnancy. Despite recent unfounded claims, there’s no clear evidence linking prudent use to issues with fetal development,” the group said.
“ACOG’s guidance remains the same. When pain relief is needed during pregnancy, acetaminophen should be used in moderation and after consulting your doctor.”
Dr. Christopher Zahn, chief of clinical practice for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, claimed that there is no clear evidence of a direct link between “prudent use” of Tylenol and fetal development issues.
“Neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular, are multifactorial and very difficult to associate with a singular cause. Pregnant patients should not be frightened away from the many benefits of acetaminophen, which is safe and one of the few options pregnant people have for pain relief,” he said, per CNN.
At the moment, the Food and Drug Administration encourages pregnant women to steer clear of other common pain relievers, particularly after 20 weeks, due to concerns that they can lead to low amniotic fluid.
Tylenol use, however, remains common during pregnancy in the US. It was one of the few forms of pain relief that pregnant women had previously been advised was safe to take.
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