Health Secretary and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday evening announced that the use of Tylenol (aka acetaminophen, paracetamol) during pregnancy is linked to autism—an unproven assertion that had previously sent Kennedy's anti-vaccine allies into a rage.
In a press event alongside Trump, Kennedy said that the Food and Drug Administration will work to update the drug's safety label and notify physicians of the concerns. At the same time, the administration also touted leucovorin (folinic acid) as a potential treatment for autism, though there is scant evidence behind its use for autism.
Before the announcement, news reports revealing Kennedy's plan angered his anti-vaccine followers.
"We didn’t wait 20 years for Bobby to finally speak and then get served Tylenol as an answer," anti-vaccine group Georgia Coalition for Vaccine Choice wrote in an unhinged Facebook post on Monday morning. "If that's all we hear - is that the end? Not thimerosal. Not aluminum. Not MMR. Not Hep B. Not the insane schedule pushed after pharma got liability protection. Are we supposed to just forget?"
Children's Health Defense (CHD)—the anti-vaccine group founded by Kennedy—even got in on the backlash, retweeting a post on Monday about parents who falsely blame vaccines for their children's neurological condition, with the statement: "THIS WAS NOT CAUSED BY TYLENOL."
Kennedy's effort to link Tylenol to autism was first reported earlier this month by The Wall Street Journal. However, fury erupted again after President Trump mentioned in a speech Saturday that there would be a "big announcement" on the cause of autism on Monday. Then, on Sunday, The Washington Post reported that the announcement Trump was referring to was the report linking autism to the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy.
In past years, CHD has fear-mongered that children's use of Tylenol early in life (not in pregnancy) may be a cause of autism. But the organization has been tepid at best on Kennedy's effort to link use in pregnancy to autism.