Joe Ladapo says it’s ‘reasonable to conclude’ there’s a connection between Tylenol, autism

When it comes to Tylenol’s^[1] purported links to autism, Florida’s Surgeon General says there may be something to it.

During a press conference at the University of South Florida—Morsani College of Medicine^[2], Dr. Joseph Ladapo^[3] voiced support for the federal government’s probe of whether the over-the-counter painkiller was responsible for increased diagnoses of autism in children.

“I really appreciate what they’re doing,” Ladapo said, describing the Health and Human Services^[4] (HHS) probe as the “merger of good intentions and courage.”

While the data may be “messy” regarding alleged deleterious effects of acetaminophen and pregnancy, Ladapo nonetheless believes that Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and doctors Mehmet Oz and Marty Makary are in a “place that is more honest” despite noise in the research.

“They acknowledge that not all the studies show harm, but some of them do show relation. And it’s not a total explanation for autism by any means, but it does appear to be that it’s reasonable to conclude that it may be contributing to the prevalence of autism in children,” Ladapo said.

HHS acknowledges a lack of consensus, noting that while the Nurses’ Health Study II^[5] and the Boston Birth Cohort^[6] “report associations between in utero exposure and later diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” those results are contradicted.

“Scandinavian^[7] studies^[8], comparing exposed and unexposed siblings, have not shown significant associations,” the HHS fact sheet notes.

Ladapo doesn’t discount the disparate nature of the data.

“Not all the studies find that, but some of the studies do find that, and some of those studies are very good. So I think that their recommendation is the right place to be in terms of discouraging its use,” he said.

Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested Ladapo may release “guidance” if needed. Meanwhile, others dispute the alleged connection.

Among them, the Autism Science Foundation^[9], the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists^[10], and Kenvue^[11], the parent company of Tylenol that saw a stock price plunge followed by a predictable recovery that granted opportunity to active investors on both ends of the play.

“We believe independent, sound science clearly shows that taking acetaminophen does not cause autism. We strongly disagree with any suggestion otherwise and are deeply concerned with the health risk this poses for expecting mothers,” said a spokesperson.

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