Illinois lawmaker, physician pushes back on Trump Tylenol announcement
[September 26, 2025]
By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
(The Center Square) – Illinois health officials push back on new federal
guidance, saying Tylenol use in pregnancy does not cause autism. A
lawmaker, who is also a physician, weighs in.
State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, is pushing back against the Trump
administration’s handling of recent claims linking acetaminophen use
during pregnancy to autism. He called the rollout “political” and
“dangerous.” Hauter said the announcement lacked new evidence and
contradicted established medical consensus.
“There was no new evidence, only a rehashing of older studies that
medicine has already addressed,” Hauter said. “If there was a true risk,
the FDA would issue a black box warning. That hasn’t happened because
the science doesn’t support it.”
Hauter warned that telling women to avoid Tylenol during pregnancy could
put mothers and babies at greater risk, since high fevers are a proven
danger to fetal health.
“When there’s a known risk to babies from high fevers, and the only drug
we have to treat that is Tylenol, telling women not to take it is
reckless,” Hauter said. “A rare, reasonable dose is not a risk at all.”
While observational studies have suggested a correlation between Tylenol
use and autism, Hauter said those findings don’t hold up under more
rigorous sibling-controlled studies. He pointed out that confounding
factors, like the underlying fever or pain that prompted acetaminophen
use, are far more likely to explain the connection.
"Tylenol during pregnancy can be associated with a very increased risk
of autism. So taking Tylenol is not good. I'll say it, it's not good,”
said Trump during a news conference this week. “For this reason, they
are strongly recommending that women limit Tylenol use during pregnancy
unless medically necessary. That's, for instance, in cases of extremely
high fever that you feel you can't tough it out, you can't do it."
Harvard’s School of Public Health found that acetaminophen exposure
increases risk for both autism and ADHD. Mount Sinai called the
connection to neurodevelopmental disorders strong enough to warrant
warnings for expectant mothers.
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Illinois state Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, during a virtual news
conference - BlueRoomStream
Hauter said the Trump administration press conference undermines
medical credibility and could harm trust between doctors and
patients
“Medicine lost a lot during COVID,” Hauter said. “People were
coerced into vaccinations, natural immunity was ignored, and risks
were downplayed. Now when we try to correct misinformation, patients
think we have no credibility. That makes this Tylenol rollout even
more damaging.”
Hauter noted the IDPH also has “little credibility.” Tylenol’s
manufacturer has long advised caution for use during pregnancy.
Hauter noted that many drug manufacturers avoid recommending use in
pregnant patients, not because the medications are unsafe, but
because they have not been studied in the kind of large clinical
trials the FDA requires for formal approval.
“Overall they’ll say, ‘we don’t recommend it for special populations
like pregnancy because it hasn’t been studied,’” Hauter said. “But
physicians are still allowed to recommend it. We use so-called
off-label prescribing all the time—from antibiotics to pain
relievers—because we have the experience and evidence, even if the
FDA hasn’t given an official indication for that use.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health maintains there is “no
evidence of a connection” and emphasizes that acetaminophen is a
safe and effective option for pregnant women when used as directed,
noting that untreated fevers pose clear risks to pregnancy.
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