Just Because RFK, Jr. Said It Doesn't Make It False

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, file

First things first: I have no idea whether a woman taking Tylenol during pregnancy increases the likelihood that a child may be later diagnosed with autism, and chances are near 100% that you don't either. 

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The evidence both for and against the hypothesis is actively disputed, with many individual studies suggesting the link is weak to nonexistent, and a recent meta-study conducted by a Harvard researcher suggesting that there is, indeed, a link. It was not a junk study, but it is hardly definitive either. 

Animal studies DO suggest that neurodevelopment can be influenced by ingesting acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and many other pain medications, and we know that drugs that are generally safe in adults may harm a fetus. Studies in infants clearly suggest a correlation between acetaminophen use and neurodevelopmental issues.

The controversy is encapsulated succinctly by this exchange:

The study was conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health and Mount Sinai, not Secretary Kennedy or President Trump, and at least deserves consideration when discussing the potential link between acetaminophen and autism, one would think. 

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I can understand many physicians' reluctance to have an important pain management tool ripped from their limited toolbox when treating pain in pregnant women, but I am having a difficult time understanding the passion and outright vitriol that Secretary Kennedy and President Trump have been subject to for conveying to the public a simple message that there may be a link between autism and this drug. 

There literally are videos popping up on the internet of women gulping down Tylenol out of spite, proving the point that if Trump praised breathing air, a million people would start putting plastic bags over their heads. 

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This vitriol would not have been directed at any Democratic administration if they did the same thing. Of that we all can be certain. 

Tylenol--which I take along with aspirin and caffeine for migraines since I am forbidden to use the miracle drugs Triptans that treat migraines well--is in fact a dangerous drug on its own due to liver toxicity. It is something that should probably be in your medical bag of tricks, but used cautiously and with full knowledge of its potential dangers. 

Warning women of a potential risk to pregnancy seems prudent. It is called informed consent, and while the medical profession has soured on the concept in recent years, it is still an ethical imperative. See COVID and gender medicine propaganda if you doubt the willingness of professionals to lie for political reasons. 

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Pravda Media is now on a Jihad to criticize Trump and RFK, Jr. for warning people about a potential risk to babies. Because...Trump. 

As usual, liberals are perfectly willing to sacrifice children on the altar of politics. Abort, sterilize, drug them with hormones and hormone blockers, and surgically alter them...go ahead, it bugs the normies a lot. 

This is insane. The meme that liberalism is a mental illness, or that Trump critics have a derangement syndrome, is unfortunately true. If you are unconvinced that Tylenol increases the risk of autism, that's fine. We all know that life is full of risks, and information is rarely perfect. And medical decisions are always made in a condition of uncertainty. 

Except when it comes to COVID vaccines. There, the science is settled...

Were a friend to ask my opinion, I would suggest extreme caution. Not because the science is settled, but because it isn't. Pregnant women should minimize the risks they subject their babies to. 

That is just common sense. 

But I wouldn't freak out if she chose to take it on her doctor's recommendation, unless he is a sufferer of TDS. 

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What this controversy shows is that far from being nonpartisan, The Science™ is just as politicized as everything in our society. By now we can know for certain that millions of liberals would have refused to take the COVID vax if Trump had won in 2020. Kamala herself recommended against it during the 2020 campaign. 

Science has become just another political battleground. Astronomers are criticized for using terms like "black hole." Scientific American prints insane gender propaganda, asserting that the biological categories of "male" and "female" were invented in the 18th century by white colonialist males, and medical debates turn on questions of DEI and party politics. 

These days, we should be skeptical of everything we are told. Chances are, politics are in the background of any assertion. 

  • Editor's Note: The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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