Kennedy’s Autism Announcement Stirs Controversy Among Health Experts

Reports that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. may link Tylenol and folate deficiency to autism in an upcoming announcement have drawn significant criticism from medical experts, who say such claims lack scientific support.

Kennedy promised earlier this year that by September, his department would reveal the causes of what he has called the “autism epidemic.” During an April Cabinet meeting, he boldly stated, “By September, we will know what has caused the autism epidemic, and we’ll be able to eliminate those exposures.” He reiterated in August that the administration would announce “interventions that are clearly, almost certainly causing autism.”

According to the Wall Street Journal, Kennedy’s announcement may focus on acetaminophen (Tylenol) use during pregnancy as a potential autism trigger. However, multiple experts interviewed emphasized that scientific evidence does not support this connection and recent studies have actually pointed away from such a link.

“As far as the evidence goes, it points towards no causal association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and risk of neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism,” explained Brian Lee, professor of epidemiology at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health.

A comprehensive Swedish study published last year involving nearly 2.5 million children initially found an association between prenatal acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental disorders. However, when researchers compared siblings to better control for genetic and environmental factors, the association disappeared, suggesting other factors were responsible for the apparent connection.

Similarly, a new Japanese study published this month showed that apparent associations between acetaminophen and neurodevelopmental conditions vanished when comparing siblings.

Medical organizations have expressed concern about potential harm from discouraging pain management during pregnancy. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists maintains that “there is no clear evidence that proves a direct relationship between the prudent use of acetaminophen during pregnancy and fetal developmental issues.”

The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine warned that “untreated fever, particularly in the first trimester, increases the risk of miscarriage, birth defects, and premature birth, and untreated pain can lead to maternal depression, anxiety, and high blood pressure.”

Some supporters of Kennedy, including Dr. Robert Malone, a new appointee to the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, have suggested that combining Tylenol with childhood vaccinations might trigger autism. Experts dismiss these claims as unfounded, noting significant methodological flaws in the limited research cited to support such theories.

The HHS report may also address folate deficiency as a possible autism factor. While some research suggests prenatal folic acid supplementation is associated with reduced autism risk, experts note that this doesn’t change current recommendations, as folic acid is already advised for pregnant women to prevent neural tube defects.

“There’s more plausibility with the folate story than there is with acetaminophen right now, but certainly more research is needed,” Lee noted, adding that “if this does turn out to be concrete and true, I don’t think it would really change current practice.”

Reports also suggest Kennedy might promote folinic acid (leucovorin) as an autism treatment. However, experts describe the supporting evidence as “very weak,” citing only five small clinical trials with inconsistent results.

“The evidence supporting folinic acid as a treatment for autism is very weak,” said David S. Mandell, a psychiatry professor at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Penn Center for Mental Health. “The larger [the studies] are, the tinier the effect they find.”

HHS officials have not confirmed the content of the upcoming report. An HHS spokesperson stated, “We are using gold-standard science to get to the bottom of America’s unprecedented rise in autism rates. Until we release the final report, any claims about its contents are nothing more than speculation.”

Experts continue to emphasize that autism likely results from complex interactions between genetic and environmental factors. “There is no one cause of autism,” explained Rebecca Schmidt, a molecular epidemiologist and autism researcher at the University of California, Davis. “It’s just likely to be a complex mixture of things that happen at the right times that lead to having a diagnosis of autism later.”