Tylenol and Pregnancies: Remarks, speculation can damage a company, people
Just one simple request and it’s not a big one. Before the president speaks about health-related issues again, drugs, can he first run it by someone with — oh, I don’t know — a medical background?
Not his style, I know.
Last week, he pulled a doozey, targeting one of the very few pain relievers offered to pregnant women — acetaminophen.
It was first a prescription drug meant to bring down a fever in children.
In 1960, it went completely over-the-counter, meaning we have decades with people using Tylenol, but now suddenly, based on the president’s say, it’s supposed to account for a 400-percent case increase in autism over the past 20 years?
His comments took place Sept. 22. Beside him stood Health and Human Services Secretary Bobby Kennedy, Jr., and the top Medicare/ Medicaid administrator, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has had his own share of controversies in his past (Covid, etc.), which can be found online or at his Wikipedia post.
Trump Quotes
With absolutely no scientific, peer-reviewed study to back up what he was saying, Trump had this to say about Tylenol last week after failing to even pronounce correctly its generic ingredient — A-SEE-TUH-MIN-A-PHIN.
Not too hard, but after stumbling over the generic name, he said, the heck with it, let’s just call it Tylenol.
Here’s what he had to say about the pain reliever:
# First, effective immediately, the FDA will be notifying physicians that the use of a — well, let's see how we say that acetaminophen — is that OK? Which is basically commonly known as Tylenol during pregnancy, can be associated with a very increased risk of autism.”
# “So, taking Tylenol is not good. All right. I'll say it. It's not good. For this reason, they are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary. That's, for instance, in cases of extremely high fever, that you feel you can't tough it out. You can't do it. I guess there's that.”
The president then urges pregnant women to “just tough it out:
# “It's a small number of cases, I think. But if you can't tough it out, if you can't do it, that's what you're going to have to do. You'll take a Tylenol, but it'll be very sparingly. It can be something that's very dangerous to the woman's health, in other words, a fever that's very, very dangerous and ideally a doctor's decision because I think you shouldn't take it and you shouldn't take it during the entire pregnancy.”
By this time, I’m guessing pregnant women are listening to his speech, thinking, what did he just say?
“I don’t know.”
See if this next quote helps:
# “They may tell you toward the end of the pregnancy, you shouldn't take it during the entire. And you shouldn't give the child a Tylenol every time he goes -- he's born and he goes and has a shot. You shouldn't give a Tylenol to that child. All pregnant women should talk to their doctors for more information about limiting the use of this medication while pregnant.”
Huh? # “So ideally, you don't take it at all. But if you have to — if you can't tough it out or if there's a problem, you're going to end up doing it.”
Check With Your Doc
Just another cluster perpetrated by Yours Truly.
Number one, there is a huge genetic component to autism.
Second, diagnosing autism has changed from what it was 20-plus years ago. Now it’s a spectrum, whereas someone with Asperger’s syndrome, but can function fully as a productive human being, now gets lumped into the numbers, pushing them higher.
Third, more women giving birth these days are suffering from morbid obesity and/or gestational diabetes, either of which may or may not have anything to do with the increased rate of autism.
Bottom line, there is still no direct “causal link” between any one thing and autism.
The term “association” means nothing, but it’s only one thing that a pregnant woman may or may not have done while bringing her baby to term or post birth. Like taking a Tylenol for a killer headache. Doesn’t mean the drug “caused” it.
Pregnant women should consult with their physician before taking Tylenol for pain, but now that the company that produces it, Kenvue, is going to have to put a new label on their bottles about a 'possible association' between taking the drug during pregnancy and an increased risk of neurological conditions such as autism and ADHD, what doctor is going to want to say, okay, take it for two days?
Other quality physicians, like neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, on CNN, may say all week that it’s still okay for pregnant women to take Tylenol, given certain conditions, many women are still going to be afraid to take it, now that Trump has spoken.
Thanks to the president’s comments last week, they will now suffer silently in pain.
Or, “tough it out,” as he put it.
Good job, Big Guy.
Tylenol Responds
In a statement sent to NPR, Tylenol-maker Kenvue disputed the administration's claims.
“We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned about the health risks and confusion this poses for expecting mothers and parents.”
Citing a Harvard study, Trump Administration officials pointed out how researchers discovered that women who reported taking acetaminophen while they were pregnant seemed to be slightly more likely to have a child who was later diagnosed with autism.
The president, however, took the word “slightly” and just blew it sky high.
One of the researchers of that Harvard study, Ann Bauer, interviewed by NPR, said that we may be jumping the gun just a little bit, and that she was concerned how pregnant women might react (the wrong way).
“I think those of us in the research community would like to see stronger evidence,” she said.
Sorry, doc, but that’s not how this administration rolls.
If the message sounds good — we just discovered the cause of autism — let ‘er rip for the sake of scoring additional political points with the American people.
The president put an end to seven wars, as he repeatedly claims. Count ‘em. Seven.
How hard can it be to fix autism?