Acetaminophen is the safest option for pain relief and lowering fever during pregnancy. Anfisa&friends/Stocksy
- A new research review disputes claims made by the Trump administration that Tylenol use during pregnancy can increase the risk of autism and ADHD in children.
- The researchers claim that recent studies cited by the White House are flawed.
- Tylenol remains safe to use during pregnancy and can help relieve pain as well as reduce high fever, both of which can be harmful to an unborn child.
In a new study, researchers concluded that pregnant people can safely take acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, to treat pain and high fever.
The analysis of recent studies shows there is insufficient evidence linking Tylenol use during pregnancy to the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.
The researchers said that previous studies suggesting a slight association between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and ADHD and autism were flawed. The findings were published on November 10 in The BMJTrusted Source.
“Existing evidence does not clearly link maternal [Tylenol] use during pregnancy with autism or ADHD in offspring,” the researchers wrote.
Experts not involved in the study said the researchers’ conclusions are well-founded.
“The high-quality methodology used in this new umbrella review confirms what experts around the globe have been saying,” said Dimitrios Siassakos, a professor in obstetrics and gynecology at the University College London in England, in a statement posted on the Science Media Centre.
“The evidence that links [acetaminophen] use in pregnancy to autism is tenuous and those studies which do report an association are confounded by the association of autism or ADHD with factors shared by families such as genetics, lifestyle etc.”
The review comes less than two months after President Donald Trump and members of his administration made statements that linked Tylenol use during pregnancy to autism risk.
A key member of the Trump administration, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., had already softened his stance about Tylenol. Kennedy recently said there was no “sufficient” evidence that Tylenol is a definitive cause of autism, but reiterated that women should only use Tylenol during pregnancy when “absolutely necessary.”
Here’s what you need to know about Tylenol use during pregnancy, and why experts continue to assert that it’s safe.
The large review involved an umbrella analysis of nine systematic reviews that included 40 studies conducted over the past decade. Each study had investigated the potential link between acetaminophen and the risk of a child developing autism or ADHD.
The researchers reported that some of those studies concluded there was a “strong association” between maternal acetaminophen use and autism and ADHD risks.
However, the researchers said those studies were flawed and confidence in the findings was “low to critically low.” Among other issues, the researchers said those studies did not make adjustments for familial factors that could have increased the risk of autism or ADHD in some children.
“Primary studies that do not adjust for key confounders such as familial genetic and environmental factors, maternal health, indications for [acetaminophen] use, and potential unmeasured confounders cannot accurately estimate the effects of in utero exposure to [acetaminophen] on neurodevelopment in children,” the study authors wrote.
They added that none of the research they reviewed established any biological mechanism between acetaminophen and autism or ADHD.
“The results from this extensive study looking at the potential link between acetaminophen during pregnancy and the risk of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were not surprising,” said Sherry Ross, MD, an OB-GYN and women’s health expert at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in California. Ross wasn’t involved in the study.
“This study confirmed there was no association between taking Tylenol during pregnancy increasing the risk of autism in the baby. The exaggerated hype and misrepresentation about acetaminophen increasing the risk of autism and ADHD during pregnancy has been exploited, harmful to pregnant women, and causing unnecessary confusion,” Ross told Healthline.
A 2024 studyTrusted Source published in JAMA reached similar conclusions.
“Acetaminophen use during pregnancy was not associated with children’s risk of autism, ADHD, or intellectual disability in sibling control analyses. This suggests that associations observed in other models may have been attributable to confounding,” the study authors wrote.
