WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced Monday that his administration is strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy unless medically necessary. “I want to say it like it is, don’t take Tylenol,” he said, encouraging women to “just fight like hell not to take it.” But his comments came under intense criticism from medical experts and researchers — because there’s no proof tying the painkiller to autism. He also made a number of dubious claims about autism, vaccines and treatments.
Here’s a look at the facts.
Are autism rates increasing?
TRUMP: “Since 2000, autism rates have surged by much more than 400%.” He said the rate used to be 1 in 20,000, then 1 in 10,000 and now is 1 in 31, saying “there’s something artificial” to explain it.
THE FACTS: It’s true that autism rates have ballooned but Trump’s numbers are off. The 1 in 10,000 figure dates back to the 1990s. In 2000, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the rate at 1 in 150. In 2018, it was 1 in 44. The latest count, based on 2022 data, is 1 in 31.
Scientists say the explanation is that decades ago diagnosis was rare, given only to kids with severe problems. Diagnosis of “autism spectrum disorder” began jumping as scientists learned the developmental disorder encompasses a wide range of traits and symptoms. And as educational and other services grew, more parents began seeking diagnoses to help their kids.
As a member of society I really feel that women of childbearing age really dig it when really old senile white men tell them what they should be doing with their bodies based on nothing at all.
Super on point there prez.
Now let’s ask ourselves, why do these folks propagate this kind of blatant nonsense?
Genuinely curious what yall think
Blaming women for their autistic kids, most likely. “She musta took the Tylenol!”
OK real talk from someone who understands conservatives a bit.
They really think all this autism and transgenderism is just a fucked up diversion from normal life, and they want it fixed, and they want it fixed NOW. It’s actually a good faith belief on their part.
Trump Et Al knows this need, so they feed that desire with bad faith lies. Easy lies that make conservatives go “Well sure enough he’s turning over stones like I knew he would, progress.”
Now that public health has been demonized to the point where it can’t operate, we’ll slip backwards into - well Carl Sagan said it best.
A certain Adolf Hitler said: ''A definite factor in getting a lie believed is the size of the lie, for the broad mass of the people in its primitive simplicity of heart more readily falls victim to a big lie than to a small one."
He doesn’t understand science at all. We need to bully him incessantly for completely missing the point and lying to sound like a hero
misleading claimsbig fat liesFTFY
But his comments came under intense criticism from medical experts and researchers — because there’s no proof tying the painkiller to autism.
I get that the press and scientists are always careful with these claims, so they’ll say “there is no proof” instead of “Tylenol doesn’t cause autism and trump lies his ass off and completely made this up”, which technically is a much better answer
misleading claimsbig fat liesFTFY