President Donald Trump told Americans on Monday that pregnant women should not take Tylenol because it could cause autism. On Tuesday, Dr. Mehmet Oz clarified that stance.
Trump said the FDA will be notifying physicians that acetaminophen can increase the chances of autism in a baby if taken by a pregnant mother, per Mediaite.
However, no evidence was provided to support this claim, which experts have said is not true.
“Because I think you shouldn’t take it. You shouldn’t take it during the entire pregnancy,” Trump said at Monday’s press conference. “They may tell you ‘toward the end’ of the pregnancy — You shouldn’t take it during the entire.”
On Tuesday morning, Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, went on Fox News to clarify what pregnant women should do.
The next morning, Oz — the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services — went on Fox News to change the administration’s directive from “never” taking Tylenol to taking it “judiciously.”
“We know that people who take Tylenol for prolonged periods of time during pregnancy seem to have a higher incidence of autism in aggregate,” Oz said. “So the message is not, ‘Never take Tylenol.’ It’s, ‘Take Tylenol judiciously.’ Take it by talking with your doctor. Make sure there’s an important reason to take it. Don’t take it willy-nilly because you think it’s so safe it couldn’t possibly cause a problem, because those assumptions appear to be erroneous.”
