California health officials warned Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s recent claims linking Tylenol to autism are not rooted in scientific evidence, as medical associations reaffirmed that the common painkiller is safe and beneficial for pregnant women.
“We are currently seeing the federal government provide a proliferation of simple answers to complex issues and false claims that can cause harm,” the California Department of Public Health and the state surgeon general, Diana Ramos, said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. Ramos has three decades of experience as an obstetrician gynecologist at Kaiser Permanente in Southern California, according to her biography.
The push-back is the latest schism between the federal government’s medical advice under the Republican Trump administration and Democrat-led California. As federal regulators and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention health advisors picked by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. prepared to pare back vaccination recommendations this month, California formed a health alliance with neighboring Democratic states and issued different recommendations that align with those of major medical associations.
“Americans deserve clear medical guidance that is the result of a rigorous scientific process,” the California officials said. “We urge everyone to seek out credible medical guidance to inform their health care choices and to have conversations with their licensed health care providers.”
In a rambling press conference Tuesday, Trump claimed that Tylenol use during pregnancy is linked to the development of autism, without offering new evidence. The White House pointed to a handful of studies and research surveys, some dating back to 2019 and others from earlier this year, suggesting a link.
Expert researchers told The Associated Press that some studies have found a connection, but many others have not, and the causes of an autism diagnosis are complex. Autism is mostly rooted in genetics, and a broader definition of the condition adopted in the early 2000s spurred more diagnoses, researchers said.
The California Department of Public Health cited research by the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics concluding that “there is no strong evidence showing a causal relationship between the appropriate use of acetaminophen (Tylenol) during pregnancy and harmful effects on fetal development.”
On Tuesday, Kennedy announced a federal inquiry into autism, which he called an “epidemic.” Kennedy has promoted fringe theories linking vaccines to autism and in August pledged to quickly identify its causes. Trump also fueled long-debunked claims that ingredients in vaccines or timing shots close together could contribute to rising rates of autism in the U.S., without providing any medical evidence.
In response, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said the federal 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 medical association said acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, “is one of the few options available to pregnant patients to treat pain and fever, which can be harmful to pregnant people when left untreated.”
The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine also said they still recommend acetaminophen as an appropriate option to treat fever and pain during pregnancy.
Newsom defended the health collaborative with neighboring Democratic states Tuesday in an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
“We are advancing an independent scientific review panel with other states to counter the mis- and disinformation coming from the CDC,” Newsom said to cheers in the audience. “They simply are not trustworthy.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.