On Monday, Sept. 22, President Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suggested a link between Tylenol use in pregnancy and autism. The announcement, which has no data to back it up, has since become a meme on social media.
During an appearance in the Roosevelt Room, Trump told reporters that Tylenol (a.k.a. acetaminophen), "is no good" and urged pregnant people to "fight like hell" and only take it in specific cases, like when they have a fever.
RFK Jr. backed up the claim, despite a lack of consensus among scientists. Medical experts quickly disputed the remarks. They warned the comments could confuse or even endanger patients seeking safe treatment for pain during pregnancy.
The medical community pushes back against claims Tylenol causes autism
Health authorities in both the U.S. and U.K. stressed that acetaminophen remains the safest option for pain relief during pregnancy. U.K. Health Secretary Wes Streeting responded bluntly, according to the BBC, saying, "I trust doctors over President Trump, frankly, on this."
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) also rejected the claim. It said that the announcement is "not backed by the full body of scientific evidence and dangerously simplifies the many and complex causes of neurologic challenges in children."
The statement added, "In more than two decades of research on the use of acetaminophen in pregnancy, not a single reputable study has successfully concluded that the use of acetaminophen in any trimester of pregnancy causes neurodevelopmental disorders in children."
Epidemiologist @DrEricDing summarized key research in a widely shared thread on X. He pointed to a study involving 2.5 million children. According to the data, "the largest & best study in the world […] found no increased autism risk with acetaminophen […] use by the mother during pregnancy." He explained that while a preliminary analysis suggested a slight risk, the signal disappeared once researchers controlled for family and sibling factors.
Other users offered historical context. X user @MeachamDr wrote, "Autism was discovered in 1911 and the modern definition of autism came in 1943. Tylenol wasn’t widely used until the 1950s."
Meanwhile, @shannonrwatts criticized the gendered blame game, writing, "in a centuries old tradition, [...] men have decided to blame women for taking Tylenol while pregnant (despite no valid supporting studies)."
Tylenol memes take over social media
Even as experts countered the claims, folks on social media transformed the announcement into meme fodder. People quickly repurposed the announcement graphic of Trump and RFK Jr. with the words, "Autism Announcement," splashed across a blue background as a reaction image.
Beyond the splash image, meme-makers also made jokes about Tylenol itself. Others shared autism-related memes that highlighted the absurdity of blaming a common painkiller for a developmental condition recognized decades before acetaminophen became widespread.
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