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Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Robert F Kennedy Jr , Health, Social Media, Politics
Ben Williams
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Robert F Kennedy Jr , Health, Social Media, Politics
Once again, Robert F. Kennedy Jr has sparked a health controversy.
This time, though, he’s dragging circumcision and the painkiller Tylenol into America’s ongoing debate over autism. The Health and Human Services Secretary, who’s never been shy about wading into medical hot water, made a strange connection during a televised cabinet meeting this week.
It’s the latest in a string of eyebrow-raising moments for Kennedy and President Donald Trump’s administration, which has made repeated suggestions about everyday medicines being responsible for a supposed rise in autism cases.
For a while, the meeting sounded like a typical policy update.
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Then, roughly midway through, Kennedy dropped the new controversial claim: “There’s two studies which show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they were given Tylenol.”
Yes, the country’s top health official publicly implied that babies given paracetamol (Tylenol) for pain relief after circumcision are more likely to develop autism later in life. The remark is another that’s sure to leave scientists, doctors, and social media alike shaking their heads.
Kennedy didn’t specify which studies he was talking about, but the only notable paper that he could have been referring to is a 2015 Danish paper that looked at 340,000 boys. Whilst that study did find a small statistical correlation between early circumcision and later autism diagnoses, it pointed to pain and trauma as potential factors — not acetaminophen. Researchers behind it also stressed that the results did not prove one caused the other.
Experts were quick to push back. A notable response was from Krutika Kuppalli an MD who is a member of FIDSA (Fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America), who shared the above X (formerly Twitter) post, quoting a video of RFK's remarks, saying: "I’m out of words for how reckless and dangerous this is.
"Tylenol does not cause autism. Circumcision does not increase autism risk. There is zero scientific evidence for either claim....Trump and RFK are not doctors. They don’t know what they’re talking about. The harm caused by this misinformation is immeasurable — and those enabling it should be ashamed."
The American Academy of Pediatrics still says the health benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, and hospitals continue to recommend Tylenol under medical supervision for infants after the procedure. D
r Jeff Singer, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, told the Mail that while it’s fine for scientists to study possible links, he added: “What I am asking is that they leave the question to the scientists, to the clinical researchers, and stay out of it.”
The comments follow Trump’s own recent warning for pregnant women to ‘fight like hell’ not to take Tylenol, echoing long-debunked ideas that common medicines or vaccines cause autism. Together, the president and his health secretary are now suggesting Americans rethink one of the most widely used painkillers on the planet.
Critics have described Kennedy’s comments as reckless and potentially dangerous, warning that spreading confusion about safe medications could discourage people from following medical advice. For now, no credible evidence supports any link between Tylenol, circumcision, or autism.
Still, it seems that won’t stop the administration from trying to find one.