Harger: Trump’s ‘Tylenol causes autism’ claim shows the danger of governing by gut, not science

President Trump has a new health warning. Pregnant women with pain or fever should just tough it out with no medication to help, except in extreme circumstances.

According to the president and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is not a doctor, taking Tylenol during pregnancy can cause autism. Some studies have raised questions about acetaminophen, but most medical experts have said the evidence is far from clear. The FDA had said for decades that Tylenol is safer during pregnancy than aspirin or ibuprofen.

But when the president says it, it creates health policy. So here we are. And it raises a question: How do you actually bring down autism rates?

Here’s the thing: Rates look higher today because we test more, screen more, and understand more. Researchers now recognize autism as a spectrum, meaning many people who were just considered a little “different” in years past would today be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. We’re finally seeing what was always there.

Which points to a solution. The president already showed us during the pandemic. Remember his explanation for why America had so many COVID-19 cases? We were testing too much. Stop testing, he said, and the numbers go down.

Politicizing health and its slippery slope

So let’s apply that logic here. Worried about autism? Simple. Stop testing for it. No screening. No evaluations. Overnight, the numbers collapse. The president could claim he accomplished what no other president in history has.

It’s brilliant in its simplicity. And you could apply it everywhere. Unemployment? Stop counting jobless claims. Inflation? Don’t measure prices. Suddenly, America is No. 1 across the board. Tremendous numbers. The best numbers.

But here’s where that wink turns serious. I appreciate any president willing to search for root causes. Parents deserve answers. Families want clarity.

The challenge is that these questions need more than gut feelings. They need rigorous science. If there’s a link between common medications and autism, then let’s fund the specific research. Actually fund it.

And Mr. President, if you don’t trust what you might see as the biased liberal elites at Ivy League medical schools? Fine. There are numerous conservative medical institutions that are perfectly capable of conducting rigorous science. Have Baylor, Loma Linda, Wake Forest, or Liberty University conduct the study. Fund them all. Let’s get every perspective. Because when it comes to children’s health, we shouldn’t care about the politics of who finds the answer, just that somebody does.

Right now, we’re grasping for easy explanations, and that doesn’t help families desperate for clarity.

If the answer really is to “tough it out,” as the president suggests, then maybe that’s the reminder we all need. Tough it out through the noise. Tough it out through the headlines. And tough it out until we get the science families deserve.

Because Tylenol may or may not be the villain here. But presidential prescriptions based on hunches? Those are definitely not the cure.

And that’s the commentary for Sept. 24. You can always weigh in. Shoot us a note on the text line (888) 973-5476 or leave a comment on MyNorthwest.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

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