A review of studies published in The Lancet found no link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism, contradicting the Trump administration's recent claims.

A comprehensive study published in The Lancet: Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health has found no association between Tylenol (acetaminophen) use during pregnancy and an increased risk of autism, ADHD, or other intellectual disabilities in children. The study reviewed data from 43 studies, including over 2 million births, and used sibling comparisons to control for genetic and environmental factors, which are known to be significant risk factors for autism.

This finding contradicts earlier claims, including those made by the Trump administration and a 2005 government-funded study, which suggested a possible link. Experts highlighted that fever during pregnancy, rather than Tylenol use, poses a greater risk for neurodevelopmental issues, and recommended that pregnant women focus on preventing infections through vaccinations.

Study shows Tylenol isn't linked to autism

Beautiful reflection pool in Washington, D.C. A wide-ranging new study finds that taking Tylenol during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism, ADHD, or other intellectual disabilities. The review of the study is published in the medical journal, The Lancet, Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Women's Health found no link between the use of Tylenol in pregnancy and autism in children. This contradicts the Trump administration's claim that taking acetaminophen during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of autism. After the Lancet study was released, this new study, the Department of Health and Human Services released a statement saying, in part, quote, many experts have expressed concern of the use of acetaminophen during pregnancy, unquote, and the government pointed to a study published in medical journal, Environmental Health. CBS News medical director, CBS News medical contributor, I just gave you a promotion. Love it. Celine Gounder is here to help us make sense of it all. So Dr. Gounder, the government is pointing to this 2005 study in the journal, Environmental Health, but this, and that was also government funded, that study. This new study that contradicts the government's findings and the government's conclusions is based on a lot of the similar data. Both of these studies looked at the same underlying data for the most part. Why do they have such different results? Right. So these were both analyses of many studies. This newest one was looking at some 43 studies, including over 2 million births, focusing, however, on these over 200,000 births in siblings. And so this is a critical difference between the two is how do you analyze all these different studies and sibling comparisons are very helpful for addressing genetics. So if you, what you want to do in a study like this, if you really want to focus on is Tylenol a risk factor, you need to factor out all of the other potential risks. And we know genetics are the number one risk factor for autism. So by looking at siblings, you're able to control for that genetic piece. And that's what this new study did that found that there was not a link. Correct. They really focused on those sibling comparisons in order to factor out things like genetics, but also other environmental factors in the home, socioeconomics, those sorts of things, which also can predict your risk for autism. So I was looking at the environmental health study and I want to read two lines from it. It says, you know, this association, meaning acetaminophen and you know, the risk that we're talking about is strongest when acetaminophen is taken for four weeks or longer. And then a couple of paragraphs later, it says at the same time, the only approved medication for pain and fever reduction during pregnancy, acetaminophen remains an important tool for pregnant patients and their physicians. So in the context of these new findings, what should pregnant women take away? Because there's so much back and forth about this. I think people are confused. Right. And I think another really important point is people don't take Tylenol or acetaminophen randomly. They take it because they have a fever, they have pain, and we know that a fever during pregnancy is a risk factor for having neurodevelopmental issues, including autism and the baby. And so what you really want to be focused on is how do you prevent a fever infection during pregnancy? And, you know, I'm a big fan of saying control what you can control. You can actually control that risk by getting the vaccinations that are recommended. So your Tdap, your RSV, your flu, your COVID shots. And in fact, there was a study that came out last year looking at COVID infection versus vaccination during pregnancy. We saw a higher risk of autism and the baby if you got COVID infection.

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