RFK Jr. Blasts Tylenol-Chugging TikTokkers
Experts warn taking acetaminophen during pregnancy may be as risky as drinking alcohol.
This article originally appeared on The Defender and was republished with permission.
Guest post by Michael Nevradakis, Ph.D.
Experts told The Defender that not only is the White House’s advice on avoiding acetaminophen during pregnancy sound, it doesn’t go far enough. They cited parallels between the potential link between acetaminophen and autism, and the link between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the onset of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday addressed pushback from elected officials, mainstream media and TikTokkers, after last month’s announcement advising pregnant women to avoid taking acetaminophen products during pregnancy.
But some experts suggest that not only is the White House’s advice on acetaminophen and pregnancy sound, it doesn’t go far enough. They cited parallels between the potential link between acetaminophen and autism, and the link between alcohol consumption during pregnancy and the onset of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
Acetaminophen, found in many prescription and over-the-counter painkillers, including Tylenol, is routinely recommended to reduce fever and relieve mild-to-moderate pain. But evidence shows the drug may be associated with an increased risk of neurological conditions, including autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, in children.
On the same day that the White House warned pregnant women to avoid taking Tylenol, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would add warnings to products containing acetaminophen and advise physicians and the public about the risks.
During Thursday’s cabinet meeting, Kennedy said compelling evidence indicates a link between acetaminophen use during pregnancy and autism in children. He said:
“There are 15 rodent studies. Every one of them shows, if you give it to the mother, the babies — and particularly the male babies — have profound neurological and behavioral changes.
“There is a study from Johns Hopkins on core blood where they divided women into three categories. Those who had the least acetaminophen in their core blood … the ones with the most, had 3.6 times the rate of autism in their children. The middle category had 2.2 times. So it was a dose-related response. And there are dozens of studies that show the countries that use the most [acetaminophen] with the highest level of autism.”
Media outlets and medical organizations criticized Kennedy’s statements.
HuffPost reported that it “sure looks like RFK Jr. doesn’t know what a placenta is.” The American Council on Science and Health suggested that Kennedy’s statement was timed to influence an upcoming hearing in a federal lawsuit against manufacturers and retailers of acetaminophen.
But for Brian Hooker, Ph.D., Children’s Health Defense (CHD) chief scientific officer, Kennedy’s advice is sound.
“The precautionary principle regarding protecting those children is much more impactful than a video or meme used as clickbait,” Hooker said.
William Parker, Ph.D., CEO of WPLab and a researcher who has studied acetaminophen risks for the last 10 years, said Kennedy “beautifully summarized some of the literature.”
In a statement provided to The Defender, Andrew Nixon, director of communications for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said, “Secretary Kennedy is focused on answers and action for families as autism spectrum disorder has surged nearly 400% since 2000 and now affects 1 in 31 U.S. children.”
Acetaminophen and alcohol enter fetus through similar pathways
According to Parker, additional studies have shown that acetaminophen consumption during pregnancy poses similar risks to alcohol consumption during pregnancy, as the two substances follow similar pathways in the human body and affect the fetus in similar ways.
“Autism spectrum disorder [ASD] and FASD are both spectrum disorders,” Parker said.
According to Parker, both disorders are “triggered by a drug that is altered by the body into something toxic — the same enzyme in the body alters both drugs,” and both disorders are “triggered by drugs that show toxicity in laboratory animals.”
The outcomes are similar too. Parker said:
“Both disorders are highly variable in terms of cognitive deficits, such as sensory and motor dysfunction … both are affected not just by the drug, but by a variety of genetic and environmental factors … both disorders are associated with a variety of other conditions, including anxiety, mood disorders, OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder] and intellectual disability.”
Parker and a team of other researchers analyzed these similarities in a peer-reviewed article published last year in the journal Life.
According to Hooker, there are three pathways through which healthy adults metabolize acetaminophen: beta-glucuronidation, sulfation and oxidation. These processes “tag the acetaminophen molecule for elimination in the kidneys, via detoxification in the liver.”
Hooker said glutathione is the molecule that “tags” acetaminophen. He explained:
“Healthy adults have an intact beta-glucuronidation pathway to eliminate acetaminophen. Infants and children up to age 6 don’t have this. So they need to rely on sulfation and oxidation, which both suffer when glutathione stores are threatened or overtaxed by oxidative stresses and/or genetic components. This allows the buildup of NAPQI [N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine] — a toxic metabolite of acetaminophen — in the brain, causing neural damage.”
Karl Jablonowski, Ph.D., senior research scientist for CHD, said the buildup of NAPQI occurs because “acetaminophen also crosses the placental barrier.” He added:
“The primary mechanism for metabolizing acetaminophen in adults does not exist for fetuses … the excess acetaminophen must go down one of the other pathways, inevitably leading to increased NAPQI production and glutathione depletion.”
Parker said that NAPQI can be neutralized by glutathione, which he said acts as a “master antioxidant in all plants and all animals, including humans.” However, “many variables can affect the level of glutathione, leaving some individuals at risk for acetaminophen-mediated injury.”
Jablonowski said a similar process occurs when people consume alcohol. “Alcohol crosses the placental barrier, and the fetus breaks it down to an aldehyde — which immediately binds to and depletes glutathione,” he said.
Research scientist and author James Lyons-Weiler, Ph.D., emphasized that FASD and ASD are “distinct conditions” with “clinically ascertainable differences.”
“FASD has sentinel facial features and growth deficits. ASD has restricted and repetitive behaviors and social communication differences,” Lyons-Weiler said. However, he said, “they overlap in depressed executive function, attention, adaptive skills and sensory processing.”
In a post last week on Substack, British biologist Christopher Exley, Ph.D., who has studied the potential link between aluminum exposure and the onset of autism, said that acetaminophen’s course of action in reducing pain is not known, but it may involve crossing the blood-brain barrier.
“In this way taking [acetaminophen] during pregnancy might facilitate the entry of aluminium into the brain of both the mother and the developing foetus. The rudimentary nature of the infant blood brain barrier could mean that infants taking acetaminophen are more prone to accumulating aluminium (from all sources) in their brain tissue,” Exley wrote.
Studies dating back to the 1980s identified acetaminophen’s pregnancy risk
A White House fact sheet released last month cited several peer-reviewed studies that have identified a possible link between acetaminophen during pregnancy and autism.
But even though the fact sheet included links to studies by top research institutions, including Harvard, Johns Hopkins University and Mount Sinai, mainstream media attacked the claim as “unsubstantiated” and based on a “lack of evidence.” The “science doesn’t back him up,” NPR said.
Yet, older studies had already identified the risk. For example, a 1997 Journal of Reproductive Medicine case report found that failure to administer an antidote after acetaminophen poisoning in pregnant women “significantly” increases the risk of death for the mother and infant.
And a 1989 study in Obstetrics & Gynecology reported on the cases of four pregnant women who sustained an acetaminophen overdose. One of them died despite treatment.
Obstetrics & Gynecology is published by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) — an organization that has criticized several of Kennedy’s policies.
In a statement published last month, ACOG affirmed the “safety and benefits” of acetaminophen use during pregnancy. ACOG published a similar statement in 2021.
While no individual study, including those cited by the White House, “is without weaknesses,” Parker said, “the weight of total evidence” regarding a connection linking acetaminophen use and autism “is indeed overwhelming.”
An exposé published by the Daily Caller last month revealed several documents showing that Johnson & Johnson, which until 2023 owned the Tylenol brand, was aware of a link between prenatal exposure to Tylenol and neurodevelopmental disorders.
RFK Jr.: Tylenol use during pregnancy ‘could overwhelm millions of years of maternal instinct’
Kennedy said Thursday that while evidence of a link between acetaminophen and autism is not fully conclusive, pregnant women and their physicians should apply the precautionary principle to minimize potential risk.
“It is not this positive that it causes autism, but it is so suggestive that anybody who takes this stuff during pregnancy unless they have to is irresponsible,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy cited recent videos on TikTok showing pregnant women consuming Tylenol on camera to show their opposition to the White House’s guidance, as examples of irresponsible behavior.
“The level of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ has now left political landscapes, and it is now in the realm of pathology,” Kennedy said. “And a mother could overwhelm millions of years of maternal instinct to put her baby at risk.”
In one video, Dr. Michelle Vu, a New York-based reproductive endocrinology and infertility doctor who is pregnant, posted a TikTok video of herself taking Tylenol, while announcing, “my baby won’t have autism.”
Mainstream media news reports have also attempted to present acetaminophen use during pregnancy as safe. They include a Reuters story last month titled “Tylenol is safe, doctors tell worried pregnant moms,” and a BBC report stating that “US doctors face anxious Tylenol conversations after Trump’s autism announcement.”
Hooker questioned such reports. “If these doctors had a clear view of the science, at least a doubt would be raised regarding acetaminophen use and the precautionary principle would prevail — ‘don’t use something that could be toxic for the developing unborn child,’” he said.
Experts said acetaminophen doesn’t just pose risks during pregnancy. “It’s important to note that halting acetaminophen use only during pregnancy may have a relatively small effect on the overall prevalence of autism. Labor and delivery are very important, as is early childhood up to the age of 4 or 5,” Parker said.
“Infants are at greater risk of developing autism when subjected to acetaminophen use in the perinatal and postnatal periods, especially the perinatal period,” Hooker said. The perinatal period refers to the first year after birth.
Jablonowski said that states “have an interest in not having a population of fetal alcohol syndrome children.” He suggested that a similar campaign, or similar policies, could help discourage acetaminophen use during pregnancy.
“Some states allow for involuntary commitment for pregnant women who won’t stop drinking, as well as child-family service interventions,” Jablonowski said. “I hope common sense will prevail, and societal pressure when it does not.”
Parker advised pregnant and expectant women to “know the evidence and make a plan in advance based on that evidence so that you don’t have to make critical decisions in an emergency.”
Related articles in The Defender
Families Behind Hundreds of Tylenol Lawsuits Ask Court to Let Experts Testify
‘Uncompromising and Relentless’: HHS to Study All Possible Causes of Autism, Including Vaccines
Unsafe for Kids at Any Dose? New Review of Science Supports Link Between Tylenol and Autism
Tylenol Use in Babies, Children Raises Risk of Autism, New Review Shows
Donate to Children’s Health Defense
Rheumatologist took me off Tylenol completely over 10 years ago. It’s was very unnerving, My husband and I had read the label updates in 2013 we had no idea the damage it was causing.