Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told Trump administration officials during a roundtable meeting that children who have been circumcised had “double the rate of autism” compared to those who didn’t receive the procedure. His statement builds upon an initiative he launched in September to review what he considered to be an autism epidemic.
Kennedy made the claim during President Donald Trump’s Oval Office meeting on Thursday after Trump requested an update from the secretary about the Department of Health and Human Services. He told the officials he had read two studies about circumcised children and autism.
“There are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism,” Kennedy said. “It’s highly likely because they’re given Tylenol.”
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He and Trump repeated their claims that taking acetaminophen — an over-the-counter drug manufactured by stores like CVS and Walgreens, and brands like Tylenol and Excedrin — while pregnant harms a child. Several research studies have shown there’s no connection between acetaminophen and autism.
Doctors advised people who are at least 20 weeks into their pregnancy to take acetaminophen for pain relief as opposed to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), due to the risks of low amniotic fluid, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). NSAIDs included aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen, which can be found in Excedrin Migraine, Advil and Aleve.
Trump advised pregnant people to instead “tough it out” before reaching for the medication. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine said in a Sept. 25 statement that letting a fever go untreated during pregnancy increases risks of miscarriage, birth defects and premature birth.
Tylenol launched a campaign featuring webpage pop-ups and numerous social media posts that refute the Trump administration’s claims and encourage people to seek information from a medical professional.
“If you are treating your little one with acetaminophen, please know that there is no credible science that shows taking acetaminophen causes autism,” the pharmaceutical company wrote. “When searching what medicine may be suitable for infants and children, the best thing you can do is to speak with your health care provider — they will guide you on what is best for your child’s pain and fever.”
Kennedy’s comments reflect the administration’s heightened focus on autism, classifying the medical condition as an epidemic. Several organizations focused on autism spectrum disorder have released statements refuting the administration’s claim and said the messaging used around the disorder is dangerous and unrealistic.
“Autism is a complex developmental disability shaped by genetic, biological and environmental factors,” the Autism Society said. “It is neither a chronic illness nor a contagion that qualifies harmful language like ‘epidemic,’ and to do so is both inaccurate and stigmatizing.”
Trump admin links vaccines to autism
The Trump administration shifted its focus to autism in September to address the claims that diagnoses for the disorder have grown to epidemic levels. Kennedy said in the Thursday meeting he’s destined to find the “environmental cause” of the disorder.
He and Trump told officials that the number and type of vaccines children receive at a young age could be a contributing factor.
For Kennedy’s association with circumcision and autism, it’s likely he’s referring to two studies that originally raised speculation, Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor, told the network. Those studies were released in 2013 and 2015.
Gounder told the network that researchers in the 2013 study noted that their study may have bias, mistakes and confounding information, and that there’s a correlation between circumcision and autism but no causation. For the 2015 study, she said the Danish researchers did find the risk of autism was higher in circumcised boys under 5 years old, but that disappeared as they got older.
“They’re likely picking up on the fact that kids undergoing circumcision in the health care system have greater contact with the health care system and have parents with higher levels of education and income — all of which are associated with being diagnosed with autism at a younger age than other kids,” Gounder told CBS News.
Trump noted he believes in several of the vaccines, but questioned the optics of having “82 vaccines that we give simultaneously” to children.
“You were talking about the Amish,” Trump told Kennedy, “where they don’t take any of this stuff and they have virtually none. They have no autism.”
The American Academy of Pediatrics, a professional association of more than 67,000 pediatricians, noted that autism is a complex, highly variable disorder that doesn’t have a single root cause. The organization added that studies have continually found no credible links between “life-saving childhood vaccines and autism.”
Its webpage on childhood vaccines also refutes Trump’s claim about kids receiving 82 vaccines simultaneously. The schedule only includes vaccines licensed by the FDA. Deviations from the schedule, the AAP said, should only be made after consulting with a child’s doctor.
“There is no research to show that a child would be equally protected against diseases with a very different schedule,” the organization said. “Also, there is no scientific reason why spreading out the shots would be safer.”
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story’s headline incorrectly suggested that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. linked circumcision itself to autism. In fact, his statement associated the use of Tylenol as a post-procedure medication with a potential increased risk of autism. This story has been updated to reflect the correction.
