Trump Makes Unfounded Claims About Vaccines, Tylenol and Autism
- Share via
President Donald Trump blamed the over-the-counter drug acetaminophen, often known by the brand name Tylenol, as a significant factor in the rise of U.S. autism diagnoses, at a press conference on Monday in which he offered detailed and often inaccurate medical advice for the nation’s children and pregnant women.
In a series of rambling, error-filled remarks that touched upon pain relievers, pregnancy, vaccines and the Amish, who he inaccurately said have no autism diagnoses in their communities, Trump also said that the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine should be broken up into multiple shots and that children defer until age 12 the Hepatitis B vaccine series now started at birth.
The announcement was met with dismay from autism researchers and advocates who said that research thus far into causational links between acetaminophen and autism have turned up minimal evidence.
“Researchers have been studying the possible connections between acetaminophen and autism for more than a decade,” said Dr. David Mandell, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. The Trump administration, he said, “has cherry-picked findings that are not in line with most of the research.”
In a series of rambling, error-filled remarks that touched upon pain relievers, pregnancy, vaccines and the Amish, who he inaccurately said have no autism diagnoses in their communities, Trump also said that the mumps, measles and rubella vaccine should be broken up into multiple shots and that children defer until age 12 the Hepatitis B vaccine series now started at birth.
The announcement was met with dismay from autism researchers and advocates who said that research thus far into causational links between acetaminophen and autism have turned up minimal evidence.
“Researchers have been studying the possible connections between acetaminophen and autism for more than a decade,” said Dr. David Mandell, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. The Trump administration, he said, “has cherry-picked findings that are not in line with most of the research.”