FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary tells Scripps News 'I don't think autism is genetic' [View all]

Source: Scripps News

Posted 5:49 PM, Sep 26, 2025 and last updated 1 hour and 49 minutes ago


Dr. Marty Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said he does not believe autism is a genetic condition, calling it instead a “modern-day phenomenon.”

"I don't believe autism is genetic. When you see the severe autism that we see, at the high rate that we see today — the repeated motions, the ticks, the individuals who are completely nonverbal, you didn't see that a generation ago," he said in an interview with Scripps News. "You still don't see people in their 60s and 70s with those symptoms — the sort of repetitive motions, the completely non-verbal individuals."

This week, federal health officials warned of the possible link between Tylenol and its active ingredient, acetaminophen, during pregnancy to autism — despite contested science.

"The number one thing was that we found for some kids, autism is an autoimmune disease, whereby their body is reacting to the folate receptor on the brain, blocking the brain from getting this critical vitamin," Makary said. "There's a treatment called leucovorin that some kids take and have a marked improvement in their autistic symptoms." Makary explained that he and the FDA are now investigating a theory that recent rates of severe autism are not genetic.

Read more: https://www.scrippsnews.com/health/fda-commissioner-dr-marty-makary-tells-scripps-news-i-dont-think-autism-is-genetic