An illustration photo shows boxes of Tylenol in Schwenksville, Pennsylvania, U.S. Sept. 24, 2025. Reuters-Yonhap
Tylenol use among pregnant women fell after U.S. President Donald Trump linked autism to the over-the-counter pain relief medicine, according to an analysis of U.S. emergency room prescribing patterns published in the UK medical journal Lancet.
In September, Trump said pregnant women should avoid using Tylenol, the brand name for the product known as acetaminophen or paracetamol owned by Kenvue. Health officials cited research claiming prenatal Tylenol use is linked with neurodevelopmental disorders to back up his statement.
The decrease in Tylenol prescribing appeared to wane after several weeks, possibly in response to messaging from trusted organizations refuting the President's claims, the researchers said.
The study led by Dr. Jeremy Faust, a Harvard professor, also found a persistent increase in the use of leucovorin, a form of folinic acid that Trump also touted as a treatment for children with autism during the same press conference.
Drug regulators said they would approve the drug based on a U.S. Food and Drug Administration review of patient data.
Thousands of women went without Tylenol
The study compared the number of Tylenol prescriptions given to pregnant patients in emergency departments in the three months before and after Trump's announcement on September 22.
Overall, Tylenol prescriptions fell 10 percent. Orders of Tylenol for pregnant women aged 15–44 years dipped 16 percent at the start of the three-month study, and the biggest weekly decline of 20 percent happened in the third week.
"This means that thousands of women did not have their pain or fever treated in ERs, likely because they were needlessly afraid," said study author Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.
Source: Korea Times News
