Madison Czopek, PolitiFact
“There’s no downside” to avoiding Tylenol or acetaminophen use whereas pregnant.
President Donald Trump on Sept. 22, 2025, in a press convention
Obstetricians have lengthy suggested their pregnant sufferers that Tylenol is the most secure possibility to cut back fever or ache. President Donald Trump stood earlier than a nationwide viewers on Sept. 22 and contradicted that.
“Don’t take Tylenol,” Trump stated throughout an hourlong White House press convention that included his main well being appointees. “There’s no downside. Don’t take it. You’ll be uncomfortable. It won’t be as easy, maybe, but don’t take it. If you’re pregnant, don’t take Tylenol.”
His recommendation has no clear foundation in analysis and contradicts long-standing science and medical steerage. And there are downsides to avoiding acetaminophen, the lively ingredient in Tylenol, when it’s wanted. Untreated fever throughout being pregnant can hurt a mother and child, medical specialists warn. Untreated ache is a downside, too.
Trump’s recommendation relies on the unproven idea that acetaminophen use throughout being pregnant will increase a baby’s threat of autism — a stance that he and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the longtime anti-vaccine activist who’s now Trump’s Health and Human Services secretary, touted all through the announcement.
Although some research have discovered that kids uncovered to acetaminophen throughout being pregnant have been extra more likely to have autism signs or be recognized with autism, different research discovered no such affiliation. Association is not the identical as causation. That signifies that analysis displaying an affiliation between Tylenol and autism doesn’t imply the treatment brought about autism.
The Food and Drug Administration’s Sept. 22 press release on the subject stated as a lot.
“It is important to note that while an association between acetaminophen and neurological conditions has been described in many studies, a causal relationship has not been established and there are contrary studies in the scientific literature,” it stated. “It is also noted that acetaminophen is the only over-the-counter drug approved for use to treat fevers during pregnancy, and high fevers in pregnant women can pose a risk to their children.”
The White House declined to offer knowledge displaying there are not any downsides to avoiding Tylenol use. It supplied a press release from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt by which she cited “a connection” between acetaminophen use throughout being pregnant and autism as the rationale for the steerage.
“The Trump Administration does not believe popping more pills is always the answer for better health,” Leavitt stated.
Leavitt additionally shared on the social platform X a statement from Andrea Baccarelli, dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, who stated his analysis “found evidence of an association” between prenatal acetaminophen publicity and neurodevelopmental problems in kids. Baccarelli warned of the dangers of excessive fever and advocated for cautious acetaminophen use throughout being pregnant — not blanket avoidance.
The Risks of Untreated Fever During Pregnancy
Maternal and prenatal care teams, together with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, help the usage of acetaminophen throughout being pregnant.
They reiterated this support in response to Trump’s remarks.
There’s good motive for that: Acetaminophen is one in every of few protected choices pregnant sufferers need to deal with fever and handle ache.
Trump acknowledged this through the press convention.
“Sadly, first question: What can you take instead?” he stated. “There’s not an alternative.” He stated that different medicines reminiscent of aspirin and Advil “are absolutely proven bad.”
In 2020, the FDA suggested that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine, or NSAIDs, which embody frequent ache relievers reminiscent of Advil (also referred to as ibuprofen), Aleve (or naproxen), and aspirin shouldn’t be used throughout being pregnant after 20 weeks of gestation.
Those drugs aren’t really useful throughout being pregnant as a result of they may hurt fetal growth, Salena Zanotti, a Cleveland Clinic obstetrician and gynecologist, said this year.
Untreated fevers throughout being pregnant include their very own dangers.
In ACOG’s Sept. 22 statement, Steven Fleischman, the affiliation’s president, stated the Trump administration’s anti-Tylenol recommendation sends a “harmful and confusing message” to pregnant sufferers.
“Maternal fever, headaches as an early sign of preeclampsia, and pain are all managed with the therapeutic use of acetaminophen, making acetaminophen essential to the people who need it,” Fleischman stated.
Christopher Zahn, ACOG’s chief of scientific observe, stated pregnant sufferers ought to speak with their docs about the advantages and dangers of obtainable remedies. Avoiding treating medical circumstances that decision for acetaminophen is “far more dangerous than theoretical concerns based on inconclusive reviews of conflicting science,” Zahn stated.
Similarly, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine stated that untreated fever and ache throughout being pregnant carry “significant maternal and infant health risks.”
“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,” it stated.
Research on these dangers goes again greater than a decade: A 2014 Pediatrics review of obtainable proof on fevers throughout being pregnant discovered “substantial evidence” that maternal fever may negatively have an effect on fetal well being within the brief and long run, together with rising the dangers of neural tube defects, congenital coronary heart defects, and oral clefts.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says that fever throughout being pregnant has been linked to adverse outcomes together with delivery defects.
MotherToBaby, a nonprofit that gives details about the advantages and dangers of medicines and different exposures throughout being pregnant and whereas breastfeeding, warns {that a} fever-caused improve in physique temperature throughout early being pregnant carries risks, together with a small likelihood for delivery defects. Some research also found that fevers are related to elevated probabilities of a kid having attention-deficit/hyperactivity dysfunction or autism.
Kenvue, Tylenol’s guardian firm, stated acetaminophen is “the safest pain reliever” possibility out there all through being pregnant.
“Without it, women face dangerous choices: suffer through conditions like fever that are potentially harmful to both mom and baby or use riskier alternatives,” the corporate’s assertion stated. “High fevers and pain are widely recognized as potential risks to a pregnancy if left untreated.”
Tylenol, responding to the information consideration on Instagram, cited the ACOG place on acetaminophen use throughout being pregnant and highlighted a piece of the Tylenol label that encourages people who find themselves pregnant or breastfeeding to speak to a well being skilled.
“Your doctor is the best person to advise whether taking medication is right for you based on your specific health needs,” the video stated.
Our Ruling
Trump stated “there’s no downside” to avoiding Tylenol use throughout being pregnant.
Researchers have lengthy documented well being dangers related to untreated fevers throughout being pregnant. They can result in elevated threat of delivery defects and different being pregnant problems, significantly within the first trimester. Untreated ache can result in maternal melancholy and anxiousness. These dangers outweigh conflicting analysis into attainable hyperlinks between the drug and autism, in accordance with maternal and fetal well being organizations.
Doctors and researchers have discovered acetaminophen to be a protected ache and fever reducer throughout being pregnant. By comparability, different over-the-counter ache relievers include documented dangers, making Tylenol one of many solely choices out there to pregnant moms.
We price Trump’s assertion Pants on Fire!
Sources
Emailed assertion from Kenvue, Sept. 22, 2025
Emailed assertion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Sept. 22, 2025
Emailed assertion from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Sept. 22, 2025
Emailed assertion from White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, Sept. 22, 2025
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt’s X post, Sept. 22, 2025
PolitiFact, “Research Doesn’t Show Using Tylenol During Pregnancy Causes Autism. Here’s What Else You Should Know,” Sept. 15, 2025
Tylenol Instagram post, Sept. 22, 2025
Cleveland Clinic, “Can You Take Acetaminophen While Pregnant?” March 17, 2025
Email interview with Christopher Zahn, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ chief of scientific observe, Sept. 10, 2025
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Flu & Pregnancy,” Sept. 17, 2024
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Heat and Pregnancy,” June 25, 2024
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “About Vaccines and Pregnancy,” June 17, 2024
MotherToBaby, “Fever/Hyperthermia,” Feb. 1, 2025
Food and Drug Administration, “FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA Has Reviewed Possible Risks of Pain Medicine Use During Pregnancy,” Jan. 19, 2016
Food and Drug Administration, “FDA Responds to Evidence of Possible Association Between Autism and Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy,” Sept. 22, 2025
American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, “Prenatal Acetaminophen Use and Outcomes in Children,” March 2017
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, “Acetaminophen in Pregnancy,” accessed Sept. 22, 2025
Vogue, “The Latest in Maternal Health Fear Mongering? Tylenol,” Sept. 22, 2025
The HIPAA Journal, “Dr. Dorothy Fink Appointed as Acting HHS Secretary,” Jan. 22, 2025
Pediatrics, “Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses: Fever in Pregnancy and Health Impacts in the Offspring,” March 1, 2014