OMG – YOU GUYS! YOU ARE NEVAH GONNA BELIEVE THIS!
In case you missed it, this afternoon, Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stood in the Roosevelt Room and delivered what the president called one of the biggest announcements, really, medically, I think, in the history of our country. Their earth-shattering revelation? Tylenol causes autism!
The only problem is – it doesn’t!
A 2024 Swedish study looking at 2.5 million births found no causal link between prenatal acetaminophen use and autism once genetics were factored in. None. The broader medical consensus is the same: acetaminophen is still considered safe during pregnancy when used as directed. So this isn’t medicine – its politics dressed up as science.
The other half of the spectacle was Trump announcing the FDAs approval of leucovorin. He hyped it as an autism treatment, but the label actually applies to cerebral folate deficiency – a rare condition that sometimes overlaps with autism symptoms. The clinical evidence for leucovorin in autism is weak. Were talking about tiny improvements on parent rating scales that don’t translate into meaningful changes in real life.
And then comes the money trail. In his financial filings when he started working for the government – Dr. Mehmet Oz disclosed between $5 and $25 million in stock in iHerb – a supplement company that sells folinic acid products, which is a form of what leucovorin actually is. So while Oz isn’t literally selling prescription leucovorin, his company profits from the supplement version. The FDAs label change now opens the door for insurance and Medicaid programs to cover leucovorin in certain cases, which means taxpayer money could be funneled straight into a market that boosts Ozs investment portfolio.
The scam here isn’t complicated. Blame mothers for autism again – just like the refrigerator mother theory, just like the vaccine panic – then present the miracle cure you just happen to have financial ties to. Its medical theater designed to create fear and sell a solution. And the cruelest part is that it preys on the desperation of parents who just want something to help their kids.
The reality is autism diagnoses are rising because doctors are finally getting better at identifying it, not because Tylenol suddenly turned toxic. The genetics are overwhelming. Hundreds of genes are involved. Autism isn’t something you fix with a pill, and its not a crisis in need of a quick-fix supplement scheme. What actually improves lives is acceptance, support, and resources – not funneling public money into Dr. Ozs side hustle.
So the announcement wasnt a medical breakthrough. It was a con – one that makes public health policy look like a late-night infomercial.