acetaminophen/paracetamol: Taking Tylenol during pregnancy has no link to autism, new study finds

Related: Acetaminophen Exposure During Pregnancy and the Risk of Autism in Offspring (JAMA Pediatrics)

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Source: The Guardian

Taking Tylenol during pregnancy has no link to autism, new study finds

Trump has pushed unfounded claims of Tylenol use in pregnancy being tied to ‘a very increased risk of autism’

Melody Schreiber
Mon 13 Apr 2026 20.46 BST
Last modified on Mon 13 Apr 2026 21.04 BST

Taking acetaminophen – known in the US by the brand name Tylenol – during pregnancy has no effect on later autism diagnoses, according to a sweeping new study from Denmark published on Monday.

The Trump administration has targeted Tylenol use in pregnancy as a major cause of autism in children, which appears to have led to a drop in pregnant people taking the pain reliever.

Through Denmark’s robust national healthcare system, researchers were able to track more than 1.5 million children ‌born between 1997 and 2022 in the national health registry, including 31,098 children who were exposed to Tylenol in utero.

Autism was diagnosed in 1.8% of children who were exposed to Tylenol and 3% of those who weren’t, according to the study, which was published in Jama Pediatr
ics. A similar 2024 study in Sweden found a marginal link that disappeared after taking siblings into account, suggesting that autism is strongly genetic, which has already been demonstrated in other studies.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/13/tylenol-acetaminophen-pregnancy-no-link-autism-latest-study